Lawsuit: Residents say SpaceX rocket tests shook homes, shattered windows
A recently filed 59-page lawsuit alleges Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship rocket is causing damage to roughly 80 people’s homes in the Rio Grande Valley.
"Brownsville is one of the poorest communities in the country," Bekah Hinojosa told sister station WESH in November when we traveled to the Brownsville area. It is 20 miles from Starbase, which houses the mega-rocket. "What we have here is one of the richest men in the world blowing up rockets in a low-income, Brown community."
Hinojosa is the founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network. While she is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit, many people in her network are.
The lawsuit alleges SpaceX has "repeatedly subjected the surrounding areas to extraordinary amounts of acoustic energy, including noise, vibrations and sonic booms."
It goes on to say the company "explicitly engineered the site to support the most energetically violent and acoustically severe rocket launches in human history."
The suit does not name specific damage to each resident’s home but does include dates. It also includes a chart showing possible building damage due to sonic booms, including cracks in plaster and glass, and damage to roofs and exterior walls.
Between April 2023 and October 2025, there have been 11 Starship test flights.
Several homeowners in Brownsville had split feelings on the impact. Some said their windows shattered, while others said they never experienced any damage.
The lawsuit is seeking more than $1 million in damages.
SpaceX has not responded to the lawsuit. While SpaceX has never publicly commented on this, it does have ways for families to submit property damage claims.