Dozens of homeowners claim that SpaceX’s rocket launches at the city of Starbase have caused damage to their properties due to sonic booms, according to a new lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on April 30.
The federal lawsuit alleges that Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s Starship rocket launches and landings have caused repeated damage from intense noise, vibrations, and sonic booms.
More than 70 homeowners living in Port Isabel, South Padre Island, and Laguna Vista joined the class action lawsuit, records show.
SpaceX’s Starship rocket and super-heavy booster are more than 400 feet tall and generate 16.7 million pounds of thrust. That’s roughly twice the output of the NASA Space Launch System and about ten times as powerful as the Falcon 9, produced by SpaceX.
The plaintiffs are seeking more than $10 million in damages and a jury trial over issues arising from 11 flights conducted between April 2023 and October 2025.
Attorneys representing the residents Benigno “Trey” Martinez, Tomas F. Tijerina of Martinez & Tijerina PLLC, Frank Guerra IV of Guerra LLP in San Antonio, Richard Paul of Paul LLP in Kansas City, and an independent Houston-based attorney, Cristobal M. Galindo.
Kristen Mosbrucker-Garza
Reporter
Kristen Mosbrucker-Garza is a versatile multimedia news reporter who lives and works along the Texas-Mexico border in Hidalgo County. Mosbrucker-Garza is a news reporter for the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal. During her career she's worked for the McAllen Monitor, San Antonio Business Journal, The Advocate Newspaper in Louisiana, Phoenix New Times, and public media outlets in Baltimore and Philadelphia.
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