US Air Force suspends SpaceX rocket project

WASHINGTON: The US Air Force has suspended plans it had proposed with Elon Musk's SpaceX to test hypersonic rocket cargo deliveries from a remote Pacific atoll, according to a report this week in Stars and Stripes, an independent publication of the US military. The suspension came after Reuters reported that biologists and experts said the project would harm many seabirds that nest at the wildlife refuge on the Johnston Atoll, an unincorporated US territory nearly 1,300 km southwest of Hawaii. The Air Force and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Air Force is exploring alternative locations for the programme.

(This is a Reuters story)