Newsom sides with Musk in dispute over SpaceX rocket launches

Contrail from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch drifts over the Southern California sky

Oct. 21, 2024 Updated 1:14 PM PT

In a legal dispute between Elon Musk and the California Coastal Commission over the number of rockets the billionaire’s company can launch from the coast, Gov. Gavin Newsom has sided with Musk, saying over the weekend, “I’m with Elon.”

The comment by the governor is surprising because Musk, a staunch supporter of former President Trump, has often clashed with Newsom in public disputes over transgender rights, “deepfakes” and other issues that have often descended into crude posts from Musk on social media.

For the record:

2:36 p.m. Oct. 21, 2024An earlier version of this article misstated where Gov. Gavin Newsom was campaigning when he was interviewed by Politico as Northern California. He made his comments in North Carolina.

Newsom made the comments to Politico during an interview as the California governor campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in North Carolina.

The SpaceX dispute centers around the Coastal Commission’s rejection of the company’s plan to increase the number of rockets it launches from Vandenberg Space Force base near the Santa Barbara coast to 50 a year. The commission, made up of appointed members, is tasked with regulating development of land and protecting the natural resources along the coast.

The commission has most recently agreed for SpaceX to launch up to 36 times a year from Vandenberg. So far this year, the company has launched 34 rockets, with the most recent one occurring Saturday.

Military officials told the commission they expected to submit another request by March to increase the number of SpaceX launches to 100 a year.

The commission‘s members, who for months have been airing concerns about the impact of the rocket launches and sonic booms on the region’s wildlife, also cited Musk’s political influence, his posts on X, and his companies’ labor record as concerns when they voted to reject the plan.

SpaceX sued the agency over the vote, accusing it of “egregiously and unlawfully overreaching its authority.”

In the interview Thursday, Newsom seemed to side with Musk, saying, “Look, I’m not helping the legal case,” he said, adding, “You can’t bring up that explicit level of politics.”

A spokesperson for the Coastal Commission declined to comment.

SpaceX and the commission have clashed for months over the company’s plan to rapidly increase the number of rockets it launches from Vandenberg.

SpaceX is a leading contractor with the Space Force, and military officials have argued that the company’s launches benefit the U.S. government. Because the launches are considered federal activity, the state commission can’t technically stop SpaceX from launching the rockets, but is supposed to come to an agreement with federal officials to mitigate the effects of the launches, called a federal consistency plan.

When it rejected SpaceX’s accelerated launch plan earlier this month, several of the commissioners cited Musk’s political activity and posts on X, which he bought in 2022, as concerns.

“We’re dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race,” commission Chair Caryl Hart said at the meeting.

Other members cited Musk’s social media posts, spreading false information about the federal government’s response to hurricane victims, as well as his decision to refuse permission for Ukraine, a U.S. ally, to use his satellite internet service, Starlink, to carry out an attack against Russia in 2022.

Some commissioners have also been increasingly looking at whether SpaceX could be forced to apply for launch permits, as is required of a private company, instead of as a federal contractor. The commission has pointed out that 80% to 87% of SpaceX launches don’t carry government payloads, but instead carry Starlink satellites.

A spokesperson for SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.

Federal officials have argued that all rocket launches benefit the U.S. government.

“These are good commissioners,” Newsom told Politico. “But you‘ve got to call balls and strikes. And trust me, I’m not big on the Elon Musk bandwagon right now. So that’s me calling balls and strikes.”

Musk and Newsom have clashed in the past, and Musk has been a vocal critic of California politicians after announcing that burdensome regulations and high taxes are forcing him to move his companies, X and SpaceX, out of California.

In an MSNBC interview, Newsom criticized Musk’s attempts to influence the presidential election, saying Musk was one of “those sucking up to Donald Trump.”

“I’m very concerned about a country where people like Elon Musk, others, that are sucking up to Donald Trump, that will undoubtedly be carved out of regulations,” Newsom said Sunday. “It is an American oligarchy that can be formed here.”

Newsom also blasted Musk’s use of a deepfake political ad that doctored video of Vice President Kamala Harris, and signed a law banning such videos.

Musk responded on X to Newsom, posting crude jokes.

Newsom said the commissioners and his team had been working behind the scenes to help reach an agreement with military officials to resolve “legitimate concerns.”

Commissioners had asked the U.S. Air Force to agree to seven conditions that would increase monitoring of the effects of operations on wildlife on and near the base, as well as develop a written plan to mitigate the impact and increased occurrences of sonic booms across the coast.

Military officials had initially rejected several of the provisions in August, but agreed to them during the subsequent meetings.

However, the governor said he was concerned that the discussion veered away from the issues surrounding the launches.

“They certainly could have said, ‘We are just not comfortable with [the proposal] right now,’” he said. “But that wasn’t what they said.”