(Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
A California regulator has apologized to SpaceX for citing CEO Elon Musk’s political activities as a factor in denying an increase in Starlink-related rocket launches at a local military base.
On Tuesday, the California Coastal Commission reached a settlement with SpaceX after the company sued the agency in 2024 for “overt, and shocking, political bias” in denying the rocket launch increases at Vandenberg Space Force Base on the California coast.
The settlement includes an email the commission sent to SpaceX on April 8, formally apologizing for an October 2024 meeting in which officials voted 6-4 to reject a launch increase for the Falcon 9 rockets.
(Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)“During that review, some Commissioners made negative comments about SpaceX's labor practices and its Chief Executive Officer's political views. The Commission acknowledges that these political comments were irrelevant to the Commission's consistency review and were improper, and the Commissioners apologize for those comments,” the email says.
During the meeting, alternate Commissioner Gretchen Newsom, who left the role in July 2025, said, “Right now, Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet.”
In response, SpaceX sued, accusing the commission of violating the First Amendment, which blocks the government from prohibiting free speech. Last July, a US district judge mostly dismissed the commission’s attempt to shoot down the amended lawsuit, paving the way for SpaceX to pursue the claims.
Tuesday’s settlement adds: “The Commission agrees that it may not consider irrelevant factors in performing its function and specifically agrees that it will not take into account the perceived political beliefs, political speech, or labor practices of SpaceX or its officers in considering any regulatory action concerning SpaceX.”
The commission’s denial has also since become moot. The US military, a Starlink user, overrode the California regulator and kicked off a federal process to increase launches from Vandenberg to 100, up from 36 under the commission. In October, the Air Force made the decision official, which means SpaceX can launch and land the more powerful Falcon Heavy rocket from the site.
Tuesday’s settlement also notes that SpaceX will no longer need a “Coastal Development Plan” for launch activities at the Space Launch Complex-4 and SLC-6 sites or other federal enclaves at the base.
Last August, the commission voted again, this time unanimously, to deny another SpaceX proposal to increase launches at the base. Instead of citing Musk’s conduct, the agency pointed to a lack of information from the Air Force, including “significant unresolved questions” about noise pollution and sonic booms from the rocket launches, as well as the potential impact on surrounding marine and coastal wildlife.
In response to the settlement, the commission told PCMag that it “continues to have serious concerns about the impacts to coastal resources from increased rocket launches at the base. These impacts include restrictions on public coastal access, harm to sensitive species and coastal habitat, as well as the frequency and intensity of sonic booms. Federal law requires the federal government to provide information to and coordinate with the Coastal Commission on such issues.”
Still, the Commission noted: “The federal government has yet to provide sufficient information to the Coastal Commission about these activities and their impact on the California coast. Moving forward, the Coastal Commission sincerely hopes that it can resolve these issues in coordination with federal officials in order to safeguard California’s precious coastal resources.”
Vandenberg has said it's made ongoing efforts to protect the local environment and wildlife.