As reported by Reuters, billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX has sued a California commission in federal court, accusing the 's of political bias in preventing the space venture company from increasing the number of rockets it launches from a U.S. air base in the state.
SpaceX sued the California Coastal Commission on Tuesday in Los Angeles, seeking an order that would prohibit the agency from regulating the company's Falcon 9 rocket launch program at Vandenberg Space Station in Santa Barbara.
The lawsuit alleges that the commission, which oversees land and water use on the state's more than 1.600 miles of coastline, unfairly exercised regulatory powers over the company's launches based on its disapproval of Musk's political views.
The agency, at its Oct. 10 meeting, said commercial space launches are not federal government activities and must be subject to the commission's coastal development licensing authority.
Musk, who has taken a sharp turn to the right, ed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and became a mega-donor, campaigning for the former president and saying he would accept a role in Trump's istration if he won.
California has become a heavily Democratic state in recent decades, with the party holding statewide offices and ing Democratic candidates for U.S. president in recent elections.
A commissioner on the 12-member coastal recently accused Musk, who has increasingly asserted his voice in the US presidential race, of “spewing and tweeting political falsehoods”.
Musk's lawsuit called any consideration of his public statements inappropriate and violating free speech rights protected by the U.S. Constitution.
It also accused the commission of “unconstitutional overreach,” intruding on U.S. national security and other federal interests, and said the launches at the base had “no significant effect on coastal resources.”
“Rarely has a government agency made it so clear that it was exceeding its authorized mandate to punish a company for the political views and statements of its largest shareholder and CEO,” he said.
SpaceX has been launching Falcon 9 rockets from Central California Air Force Base since 2013. The Air Force has proposed increasing the number of SpaceX launches from 36 to 50.
With Reuters
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