The move to allow Starbase to close Boca Chica Beach has outraged local organizers who have lobbied to protect the area. Environmental and indigenous groups worry that allowing Starbase to decide when to close the beach would effectively close off a beloved and sacred beach to the public.

Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration gave SpaceX the green light to increase rocket launches from Boca Chica Beach from five times per year to 25 times per year, guaranteeing that the beach will be closed off more often.

“The entire system is kind of designed to basically give them a de facto private beach,” said Rob Nixon, vice chair of the South Texas chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit environmental group. “Public safety’s one thing but to use public safety against the public to close it down … it’s not genuine."