SpaceX Claims Political Bias Against Musk on California Launches

Elon Musk’s SpaceX sued a California agency for voting down additional rocket launches by the company in the state, claiming it was motivated by “naked political discrimination” against the billionaire chief executive for his views.

The lawsuit comes after members of the California Coastal Commission on Thursday voted against a request by the US military for an increase in SpaceX launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, northwest of Los Angeles. The board voted 6-4 against raising the annual number of launches permitted at the base from 36 to 50, according to SpaceX.

The commission is “exceeding its authorized mandate to punish a company for the political views and statements of its largest shareholder and CEO,” SpaceX alleges in the suit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court.

The commission didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on the suit.

In the lawsuit, SpaceX cited remarks by commissioners that it claims are irrelevant to the request for more launches, including over Musk’s political support of Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in next month’s presidential election. It quoted commissioner Caryl Hart as saying “we’re dealing with a company ... the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race and made it clear what his point of view is.”

Commissioner Gretchen Newsom said in a speech that Musk has been “hopping around the country spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking” the Federal Emergency Management Agencyover its hurricane relief efforts, according to SpaceX. (The commissioner isn’t related to California Governor Gavin Newsom, a sharp critic of Trump.)

The rocket company claims the commission’s vote went beyond its legal authority and conflicts with federal law and that the agency illegally retaliated against SpaceX for Musk’s constitutionally protected political speech. It is seeking an order declaring that the commission lacks authority over the launch program.

In the end, the federal government has the pre-emptive authority to proceed without the support of the commission, whose members are appointed by the state’s governor and legislators. The US has said “it would be premature to speculate” on whether that would happen.

The case is Space Exploration Technologies Corp. v. California Coastal Commission, 24-cv-08893, US District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).

--With assistance from Justin Sink.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

Peter Jeffrey

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