---
title: "Local Retirees Furious About Elon Musk’s New SpaceX Launch Site"
description: "Front Row Seats In April, SpaceX successfully tested its Starship prototype, “Starhopper,” during a tethered, minute-long flight at the company’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas. But not everyone was pleased — residents in the area told Business Insider that the test “hop” damaged parts of their homes, serving as a reminder of the increasingly-busy industrial site […]"
date: "2019-06-05"
modified: "2019-06-14"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/retirees-elon-musk-spacex-launch"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "space"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "the digest"
---

# Local Retirees Furious About Elon Musk’s New SpaceX Launch Site

![Retirees living in Boca Chica, the site of a SpaceX launchpad, shared complaints about the noise and secrecy surrounding rocket tests.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/retirees-elon-musk-spacex-launch.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Front Row Seats

In April, SpaceX [successfully tested](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-tests-starship-hopper-engine>) its Starship prototype, "Starhopper," during a tethered, minute-long flight at the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

But not everyone was pleased — residents in the area [told *Business Insider*](<https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-texas-starship-launch-site-development-challenges-2019-6>) that the test "hop" damaged parts of their homes, serving as a reminder of the increasingly-busy industrial site intruding on their peaceful retirements.

"Most of us came down here... because we're retired and wanted a nice quiet place to live," Sam Clauson, who lives two miles from the launch pad, told *BI*.

## Mysterious Operations

Some of the roughly 20 Boca Chica residents told *BI* they enjoy the view of the prototype spaceship from their windows — one described it as a scene from a child's picture book. Others shared concerns about the lack of transparency from SpaceX.

SpaceX hasn't held a public meeting with residents in several years, according to *BI*, though [the company mailed out notices](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-spacex-test-hoppper-starship>) in January telling residents to expect test flights by mid-March.

## Not Assuaged

Still, Clauson says that SpaceX hasn't been answering people's questions about the future of the area.

"We were just all citizens trying to find out what the hell is going on, and what are we going to have to put up with?" Clauson told *BI*. "And are we going to be safe here? Are we going to lose our land?"

**READ MORE:** [SpaceX is staking its future on a spaceport in south Texas. The people who live inside it are just one of Elon Musk's problems.](<https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-texas-starship-launch-site-development-challenges-2019-6>) \[*Business Insider*\]

**More on Starship:** *[SpaceX was Secretly Building a Second Starship in Florida](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-building-starship-florida>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)