Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has threatened to sue Elon Musk’s SpaceX over falling debris from a rocket launch across the border in the United States.SpaceX said its efforts to recover debris from Mexico had been hindered by “trespassers”.
Here is more about what is happening between Mexico and SpaceX.
What happened?
A SpaceX “Starship” rocket, part of Musk’s project to send humans to space, exploded in a giant fireball during a routine launch test in Texas on June 19.
Starship rockets are 120 metres (400ft) tall and made primarily from stainless steel.
The rocket, called the Starship 36, went through “catastrophic failure and exploded” at the Starbase launch facility at 04:00 GMT, according to local Cameron County authorities.
The facility is located at Starbase, formerly called Boca Chica Village, in Cameron County, Texas, close to the US-Mexico border.
What does Mexico say about contamination?
On Wednesday this week, Sheinbaum told her morning news conference that “there is indeed contamination” which has been detected in Mexico in the aftermath of the SpaceX explosion.
She said Mexican officials are conducting a review of the environmental effect caused to the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, a little more than 300km (190 miles) from Starbase.
Tamaulipas governor, Americo Villarreal Anaya, said authorities were examining “the internationally required distances are being respected in order to have these types of facilities, so that there is no risk to urban centres”, according to a report in The New York Times. Advertisement
“We are reviewi …