Environmentalists are now suing to learn more about the Air Force’s plan of landing cargo-hauling rockets on a remote Pacific atoll that’s also a bird magnet.
Citing the potential threats that rocket landings could pose to Johnston Atoll and its wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in hopes of squeezing out more details about what the Air Force calls the Rocket Cargo Vanguard program.
The test program calls for up to 10 reentry vehicle landings per year over four consecutive years at a site to be constructed in the Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, which is within the vast Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.
“Landing massive rockets in one of the most isolated and valuable habitats for seabirds would be as destructive and irresponsible as it sounds. That’s exactly why the military and SpaceX are trying to keep this project’s details hidden from the public,” said Maxx Phillips, Hawaii and Pacific Islands director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
