The Starship is the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built. Made by SpaceX, it is intended to be reused, but is so noisy that it damaged a neighboring village in the United States during a recent test flight. An alarming situation for researchers, which the company must rectify for the good of the population.
An impressive sonic explosion for the Starship
In the journal JASA Express Letters, the team led by Kent Gee, a physicist at Brigham Young University, reports more specifically that the sound and air pressure wave from Starship's fifth flight led to “an increased risk of damage structural damage, such as broken glass and falling junk” in the neighboring village of Port Isabel.
For information, the launcher makes ten times more noise than the Falcon 9 rocket. Kent Gee also comments that the test flight took place as if we were 200 feet (approximately 61 meters) from a Boeing 747 at takeoff.
Houston-based sound consultant Terracon points out that when Starship's Super Heavy booster returned to the launch pad to be caught by the landing tower, pressure levels rose to 144.6 decibels.
Futurism also emphasizes that it is “much louder than a concert and as impactful as fireworks or a shootout”, a final comparison worthy of the United States. As a reminder, Uncle Sam's country recorded a distressing number of 406 mass shootings by weapon in 2023.
Residents not far from the shooting range
Faced with this situation, Jared Hockema, director of the city of Port Isabel, explains that they are “favorable to economic development and the work of SpaceX”, but that this must be done in compliance with the law, and without “detriment to existing residents or the environment”.
He nevertheless moderates the scientists' comments, specifying that the impact on local properties was quite minimal. The effects of Starship takeoffs remain worrying, especially when we know that there are about two dozen homes nearby that could be exposed to deafening sounds.
“But the closer we get to SpaceX’s launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas, the greater the risk […]neither Kent Gee and his team nor Terracon took any sound measurements near the launch site itself,” adds Futurism.
Besides humans, there are also concerns for surrounding local species, given that the shooting range is surrounded by a national wildlife refuge and state park.
Elon Musk could do as he pleases
Problem with all this: Elon Musk. The billionaire head of SpaceX has repeatedly complained about environmental protection rules, calling them unnecessary red tape. Futurism recalls in passing that the latter even “went so far as to mock concerns regarding the destruction of bird nests located nearby”.
Unfortunately, his rapprochement with Donald Trump, new president of the United States, may not help things. On the contrary, we can very well imagine that Elon Musk will try to circumvent the legislative barriers blocking his way, to the detriment of human beings and local wildlife…
