SpaceX is suing the California Coastal Commission for not allowing it to launch more rockets

Last week, the California Coastal Commission rejected a plan for SpaceX to launch up to 50 rockets this year from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. The company responded yesterday with a lawsuit, complaining that the agency’s denial is beyond its control and discrimination against the chief executive.

The mission of the Commission is to protect the coasts and beaches of California, and the animals that live there. The agency has control over requests from private companies to use the county’s coastline, but cannot deny federal department jobs. The rejected launch request was actually made by the US Space Force on behalf of SpaceX, requesting that the company be allowed to launch its Falcon 9 rockets, from 36.

While the commissioners raised concerns about SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s politics and his companies’ undisclosed safety records during the review of the launch request, the investigation focused on the relationship between SpaceX and the Space Force. The Space Force’s case is that “because it is a customer of – and relies on – SpaceX’s launch and satellite network, SpaceX’s launch is the responsibility of a federal agency,” the Commission said. “However, this is inconsistent with the way the federal agency’s duties are defined in the Coastal Zone Management Act regulations or the way the Commission has historically applied those regulations.” The California Coastal Commission said at least 80 percent of SpaceX’s rockets contain money paid for by Musk’s Starlink company instead of government customers.

SpaceX’s lawsuit filed in California’s Central District court seeks an order designating the launch as a federal activity, which would cut off the Commission’s oversight of its future launch plans.