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The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments in a constitutional challenge to beach closures tied to SpaceX rocket launches in South Texas.
Justices heard the case while sitting at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg.
Environmental groups argue a state law allowing Boca Chica Beach to be closed for launches violates the Texas Constitution's guarantee of free and unrestricted public access to Gulf Coast beaches.
The plaintiffs, including Save RGV and the Sierra Club, are challenging Texas House Bill 2623. The law allows Boca Chica Beach near the SpaceX launch site to be closed during rocket launches and related activities.
Plaintiffs' attorney Marisa Perales argued the Texas Constitution guarantees Texans "free and unrestricted" access to Gulf beaches, protections reinforced through the state's Open Beaches Act.
"When the government closes the beach under its HB 2623 authority, it does so at the request of SpaceX, so that SpaceX can take possession of the beach, exclude the public from it, use it as its blast zone for its space flight activities for as long as it wants, whenever it wants," she told the justices.
But attorneys for the state argued the law appropriately balances beach access with Texas' interest in growing its commercial space industry.
Beth Klusmann, representing the Texas Attorney General's Office, defended the law.
"It balances the public's right to the beach with the state's interest in furthering the space industry, which will, of course, assist and benefit Texas and Texans."
The defendants in the case include SpaceX, the Texas Attorney General, the Texas General Land Office, and Cameron County.
Cameron County previously had authority over beach closures tied to SpaceX launches. But state lawmakers later shifted that authority to the city of Starbase. The community surrounding the SpaceX launch site voted to incorporate as Starbase, Texas, in 2025.
Thursday's hearing before the state's highest court is the latest development in a legal battle that dates back to 2022.
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