Eighty residents of Texas are filing a lawsuit against SpaceX, claiming that the rocket launches are actually damaging their homes.

      Eighty residents living near SpaceX’s Starbase in South Texas are suing the company, claiming that ongoing rocket launches have caused damage to their homes. One individual involved in the case estimates that she needs $100,000 in foundation repairs. Housing prices have reportedly doubled since 2014.

      The class-action lawsuit asserts that SpaceX’s repeated launches are harming homes and accuses the company of negligence, gross negligence, and trespass, referencing the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984.

      One plaintiff detailed her home in Port Isabel, situated less than six miles from Starbase, to Reuters. She explained that her cabinets are misaligned, her doors won’t close, and her flooring warped after a waterline burst during a launch. “They’re wanting to get to Mars,” she remarked. “But what about us that are here?”

      The lawsuit claims that damage was inflicted by 11 Starship test flights between April 2023 and October 2025. The resulting sonic booms, vibrations, and overpressure waves have caused cracked walls, shattered windows, damaged roofs, and broken foundations in numerous homes in Port Isabel, Laguna Vista, and South Padre Island.

      The economic impact extends beyond physical destruction. The arrival of SpaceX has led to a doubling of housing prices in Cameron County, with average home prices increasing from $131,000 in 2014 to over $281,000 by 2026, according to Moneywise. For the local impoverished and working-class communities, the combination of property damage and rising expenses is forcing them out.

      SpaceX established Starbase as a town for its 22,000 employees, offering subsidized housing, a corporate medical clinic, and an exclusive gastropub. However, the benefits are limited to those within the company’s premises. Locals have lost access to Boca Chica Beach, a once-free beach spot where families enjoyed time together without cost, which has become largely inaccessible due to SpaceX’s activities.

      The timing of the lawsuit is significant, coming just weeks before SpaceX’s record $75 billion IPO, which started trading at a valuation of $2 trillion. The company’s S-1 filing indicated a total addressable market of $28.5 trillion. The 80 plaintiffs are seeking compensation for homes that, in some situations, may be worth less than the needed repair costs.

      The Commercial Space Launch Act empowers the Secretary of Transportation to halt or suspend launches deemed harmful to public health and safety; however, no such measures have been taken. SpaceX's IPO prospectus acknowledged regulatory risks but did not specifically refer to the ongoing class-action lawsuit or the claims of structural damage.

      This case reflects a rising resistance to technological infrastructure throughout the U.S. As communities dealing with the physical repercussions of the tech industry’s aspirations rally together, they are increasingly unwilling to suffer in silence.