To place this immense power in context, the Apollo‐era Saturn V rocket that took
humanity to the moon produced just 7.6 million pounds of thrust and NASA’s modern
Space Launch System (SLS) generates 8.8 million pounds. By comparison, Starship
generates nearly twice the thrust of NASA’s SLS and nearly ten times the thrust of
SpaceX’s own Falcon 9 rocket. Yet, SpaceX’s Starship operations rely on decades‐old
acoustic prediction model theories. The sheer scale and novel configuration of the Raptor
2 engines produce an acoustic profile that confounds these traditional modeling
formulas, which fail to properly account for the frequency‐dependent source levels,
extreme low‐frequency rumble, and intense transitory crackle unique to Starship. By
unleashing unprecedented mechanical power that outstrips the bounds of historical
acoustic science, SpaceX knowingly subjects the surrounding communities to a
foreseeable, yet inadequately modeled, peril.
69. SpaceX has publicly acknowledged a scientific and regulatory knowledge deficit
surrounding its novel Starship propulsion system. In an official update regarding its
vision for a “Multiuser Spaceport,” SpaceX admitted that because next‐generation rockets
like Starship utilize liquid oxygen and methane (methalox) propellants—as opposed to
the hydrogen or kerosene fuels used historically—there is a lack of “data to make refined,
accurate clear zones” for blast and acoustic impacts. By its own admission, SpaceX is
“making significant investments in scientific research on blast and acoustics” specifically
to address this “gap in data.” This statement serves as a formal admission that,
throughout its Starship orbital campaign, SpaceX has been launching the most powerful
rocket in history while simultaneously acknowledging that the scientific community
lacks the comprehensive data necessary to accurately predict and mitigate the resulting
acoustic and blast‐related harms to the surrounding public. SpaceX’s Starship operations
are therefore experimental and iterative by nature. Each launch generates new acoustic
data for SpaceX and its regulators.
70. SpaceX’s inaugural Starship test flight on April 20, 2023, violently illustrated both
the unprecedented power of Starship’s Raptor engines and the scientific and regulatory
“gap in data.” SpaceX so vastly underestimated the explosive, acoustic energy of its own
thirty‐three‐engine booster that the Starship’s liftoff completely shattered the facility’s
reinforced concrete launch pad. The sheer force of the ignition and its resulting concrete
rock tornado carved a crater into the ground and generated a massive debris cloud of
pulverized concrete and metal shrapnel that rained down over 385 acres, reaching tidal
flats and residential areas up to six and a half miles away. SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk,
later admitted the company did not anticipate the destruction of the pad, stating, “If we
had expected to dig a hole, we would not have flown.” Following this catastrophe, the
FAA grounded the Starship program for months, citing the need for sixty‐three corrective
actions to address the unplanned debris and public safety risks. From the very
beginning of its Starship orbital campaign, SpaceX had actual, subjective knowledge that
it was navigating uncharted, highly dangerous, and destructive acoustic territory.
gizmodo.com
