According to documents obtained by CNBC from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, SpaceX must take steps to track and mitigate its impact on endangered species and their habitat in order to gain approvals for testing and commercial launches of its Starship Super Heavy lift-launch vehicle in Boca Chica, Texas.
Recent decreases in an endangered bird species, the piping plover, have previously been linked to SpaceX activities at the South Texas facility, according to papers supplied by the federal government in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
According to the documents, SpaceX is lowering the amount of energy it wants to generate at a utility-scale natural gas power plant on the 47.4-acre launch site there, at least for the time being.