A federal court has allowed the U.S. government to proceed, for now, with a proposed land exchange involving Elon Musk's SpaceX and a national wildlife refuge in South Texas.

What we know: On Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas denied a request for a preliminary injunction from conservation groups and a Native American tribe seeking to block the exchange.

The exchange involves more than 700 acres of federally protected land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge near the SpaceX Starbase facility in Cameron County.