WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Air Force has suspended plans with Elon Musk's SpaceX to test plans to ship hypersonic cargo from remote Pacific Atoll.
Reuters reported that biologists and experts said the project would harm many seabirds nesting in the wildlife reserves of Johnston Atoll, a U.S. territory nearly 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii.
The Air Force has said it will conduct an environmental assessment of the project, but the release of the draft assessment was delayed after environmental groups opposed the plan.
The Air Force and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Air Force is exploring alternative locations for the program, a spokesperson for the military branch told the Star & Stripe newspaper in a story released Thursday.
The plan will use commercial rockets, such as those made by SpaceX, although the Air Force has not announced a private partner yet.
It will test the landing rocket to re-enter the vehicle, aiming to transport up to 100 tons of cargo anywhere on Earth in 90 minutes. The plan will be a breakthrough in military logistics by rapidly moving supply to remote locations.
But 14 tropical bird species on the island may not be able to bear it, according to biologists and experts who are part of the Marine National Monument on the island’s remote islands.
SpaceX's activities affect protected birds elsewhere. Last year, launching a spaceship rocket at SpaceX in Boca Chica, Texas, involving an explosion that destroyed the nest and eggs of Plover Shorebirds, put billionaire Musk's company in legal trouble and led him to joke that he would avoid eating omelets for a week to make up for the week to compensate.
(Reported by Valerie Volcovici and Timothy Gardner of Washington; Editor of Matthew Lewis)
