‘Slowly being eroded’: Environmentalists worry about SpaceX’s expansion on wildlife preserve

Some worry about SpaceX's expansion

SpaceX wants to expand its operations at Kennedy Space Center, but environmentalists are worried about too much growth on federally protected land.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - SpaceX wants to expand its operations at Kennedy Space Center, but environmentalists are worried about too much growth on federally protected land.

The commercial space industry is growing rapidly, and companies like SpaceX are competing for land on the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Environmental experts are asking for low impact- a development that won’t hurt the land.

"Now, you’ve got a third component that moved in and that’s the commercial business. That didn’t exist before," said Laurilee Thompson who’s the vice president for the Merritt Island Wildlife Association.

SpaceX is leading the way in commercial space developments. The company broke a record last week, with its 58th rocket launch off Florida’s coast. Now, it wants to expand even more at KSC.

On Roberts Road, SpaceX wants to develop 100 acres and make a new 1.5 million square foot facility to centralize operations at the space center.

"It’s going to be a whole lot bigger than HangarX, so where is that stormwater going to go? Where is that highly treated water going to go? Are they going to run it down the Roberts Road canal and into Oyster Prong, too?"

Thompson is worried because KSC sits on the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge which is a nature preserve, so development impacts the ecosystem.

"We want this growth to happen, but we don’t want to make the Indian River Lagoon worse in the process," added Thompson whose organization submitted comments to NASA on SpaceX’s expansion project.

Stel Bailey is another environmental activist on the Space Coast asking for responsible growth because construction affects the waterways.

"When you fill in wetlands, you deal with flooding, and it impacts the communities around that land," said Bailey who runs the public health non-profit Fight For Zero.

More companies, like SpaceX, want a piece of prime land that’s at risk of being damaged with growth.

"The national wildlife was a promise made by our space industry, and it frustrates me to see that is slowly being eroded," Bailey concluded.

NASA says their environmental biologist is looking over these impact concerns. Back in 2018, NASA did let SpaceX build on Roberts Road after an investigation found no significant impacts to the preserve. The project is still under review as more experts weigh in with ideas.