A Mexico-based nonprofit sounded the alarm after discovering that debris and vibrations from rocket launches at SpaceX's nearby Starbase posed a threat to endangered turtles and their nests, CNN reported.

"In half a kilometer out of 40 kilometers of shoreline, we already collected one ton (of trash)," Jesús Elías Ibarra, founder of the non-governmental organization Conibio Global, told CNN. "We are a very small group; it's impossible to clean everything." 

What's happening?

SpaceX's Starbase, which houses a launchpad and company town, is located in Southern Texas, just across the border from Bagdad Beach in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

When SpaceX has launched its giant rockets from the site, the area around Bagdad Beach has been showered with debris, shaken by intense vibrations, and even scorched, Ibarra said, per CNN.

These impacts threaten an endangered species of turtle that uses Bagdad Beach as a nesting ground. The launches also harm nearby humans, as debris from SpaceX launches has fallen on communal farmlands, according to CNN.

Vibrations from the powerful launches have damaged local homes and destroyed as many as 300 turtle nests, Ibarra estimated.  

When SpaceX launches fail and the rockets explode, the damage to surrounding areas can be even worse. 

"There is vegetation that the last explosion burned, the entire edge of the Rio Bravo, and the pipes broke many trees, which fell near a small population of people," Ibarra said, per CNN.

Why does the environmental impact of rocket launches matter?

Beyond the localized damage to people, animals, and the environment, SpaceX rocket launches contribute heavily to the amount of heat-trapping pollution entering the atmosphere. 

One launch of the SpaceX Starship releases 83,600 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, according to Space.com.

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That's roughly the same amount of pollution that would be generated if an average, gas-powered car drove 197 million miles, further than the distance from Earth to Mars. 

While the private space industry currently accounts for a relatively small fraction of global pollution overall, that figure is expected to grow significantly as satellite launches, space tourism, and other ventures require more frequent launches. 

That isn't to say society should cease all such operations, but it's important to be aware of the consequences and factor them into how society takes care of the planet. 

Further, scientists say they are only now beginning to understand the other damage that rocket launches and space exploration are doing to the upper atmosphere.

The New York Times reported in 2024 that the upper levels of Earth's atmosphere have been contaminated with the metals of spacecraft burning up upon reentry.

"We are changing the system faster than we can understand these changes," Aaron Boley, an astronomer at the University of British Columbia, told the Times in 2024. "We never really appreciate our ability to affect the environment. And we do this time and time again." 

What's being done about the environmental impact of rocket launches?

While groups like Ibarra's Conibio Global do their best to collect the debris that SpaceX leaves behind, there is only so much that individuals can do to address a problem that is international in scale. 

Personnel from the Secretariat of the Mexican Navy recently visited the area to collect samples, and Ibarra told CNN that the Mexican government had been collaborating with his group on potential solutions.

Meanwhile, literal tons of SpaceX's trash remained, littered along Bagdad Beach, being slowly buried by the waves.

"The debris is still there," Ibarra said, per CNN, "and it has to be removed sooner or later."

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