DeSantis signs law protecting Elon Musk's space flight company – a day after Twitter campaign launch
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that loosens regulations on space flight a day after he announced his presidential campaign in an event hosted by Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces.
Twitter's CEO Musk is also the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX, which launches from Florida -- and the new bill would shield space flight companies from being sued for accidents that kill or injure crew members, reported Rolling Stone.
"DeSantis signed into law CS/SB 1318 – Spaceflight Entity Liability along with 27 other bills," the magazine reported. "The law exempts 'spaceflight entity from liability for injury to or death of a crew resulting from spaceflight activities under certain circumstances.'
SpaceX launched the most powerful rocket ever built last month from its privately owned spaceport in South Texas, but the craft exploded over the Gulf of Mexico, sending chunks of concrete and metal into sensitive habitat below and setting of a 35-acre fire on state park lands near the launch site.
Environmental groups and cultural heritage nonprofits have sued Federal Aviation Administration over the explosion, saying the agency failed to conduct a thorough environmental review.