SpaceRyde is a Canadian rocket startup with a facility in Trent Hills, Ontario and its location is not getting convenient for the people in the neighborhood. Its office is rated 1 star on Google from its one review that states that SpaceRyde’s facility is “really noisy” and is “definitely [negatively] affecting the quality of life of nearby residents.”
This is not the only pressure the company might be facing. A Change.org petition is also demanding from SpaceRyde to stop its rocket testing. It has been signed by more than 700 people, in a town with only a total of 13,000 people.
“The sound can be heard for many miles and startles anyone in the nearby vicinity,” the petition claims. “Horses may bolt, and pets are distressed. Wildlife is disrupted.” It even claims that “people’s safety is at risk” because the sudden noise may cause people to lose concentration while working.
Trent Hills Now, the local newspaper, states that the municipality has taken legal counsel and has requested SpaceRyde voluntarily stop its rocket engine testing.
The mayor, Bob Crate, says that the testing occurred “without knowledge of the municipality,” according to the newspaper.
“A lot has happened since its posting,” the company’s head of marketing Jen Scholten told Space.com of the petition, without elaborating further.
In an open house session held to address residents’ concerns, SpaceRyde’s co-founder Sohrab Haghighat claimed that the tests are never louder than 100 decibels, which is similar to a semi-truck “highly revving” its engine.
Haghighat also states that they always inform locals before the tests are executed.
Fellow co-founder Saharnaz Safari, who is married to Haghihat, put things in perspective: “out of the 52 million seconds [the site has been in operation], we have generated noise for 200 seconds,” she said at the open house.