Pop star Charlie Puth publicly slams SpaceX for launching rockets near his Santa Barbara, California home, saying the shock waves are leaving his wife “frightened”. Puth and his wife Brooke Sansone expect their first child in March 2026.
On December 10, 2025, Puth says on X the pre-dawn sonic boom of a Falcon 9 launch reached an estimated 150-160 decibels and violently shook his house. While SpaceX has warned that due to atmospheric conditions, residents in surrounding counties may hear sonic booms, Puth’s message illustrates real-world problems high-decibel aerospace activities may create for families in such proximity.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 : Loud sonic booms near Charlie Puth
The December 10 launch sent 27 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Space Launch Complex 4 East.
This Falcon 9 rocket marked the 18th flight for its first stage booster, which had previously launched several military and commercial payloads before landing safely on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. According to SpaceX, residents of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties “may have heard one or more sonic booms,” depending on local weather and atmospheric conditions.
But for people closer to the launch, like Puth, the noise was powerful and startling enough that he had concerns about safety and wellbeing.Puth grumbled on social media that the sonic booms “have gotten progressively louder” and that the December 10 event “really frightened my pregnant wife.” His post drew attention not only to the louder launches but also to some of the human impacts of near-constant rocket activity: people who live near launch sites could find themselves disturbed at odd, often early morning hours, possibly with sleep, levels of stress, and family safety-especially for expectant parents.
Charlie Puth balances fatherhood career and SpaceX rocket disturbances
In October 2025, the singer and his wife announced their first pregnancy through Puth’s music video for Changes. The two were joyfully showing off Brooke’s baby bump in the video as a means to signal that a new life is about to start. Puth has been candid with his thoughts about impending fatherhood on television. During TV appearances, he even makes jokes, like how he hopes his child enjoys music as much as he does. This upcoming milestone adds a personal weight to the stress caused by loud, early-morning rocket launches and shows how aerospace developments can meet at an intersection in daily life.
Besides preparing for fatherhood, Puth is taking on professional commitments, including performing the National Anthem at Super Bowl LX. He has acknowledged the challenge this iconic song poses and promised that his fans will get a very well-arranged performance.The combination of career obligations, family milestones, and disturbances from nearby launches serves to underscore how delicate the balancing act is between public life and personal well-being in celebrities.
Though SpaceX typically sends out notices to residents when sonic booms are a possibility, Puth’s thread calls attention to what it’s like actually to live through the experience of living in communities proximate to these events.
Events, even non-damaging ones, such as the sound waves from rockets, can have both psychological and physical consequences on particularly vulnerable populations, including pregnant women. Public voices may raise awareness and drive companies to think about mitigation strategies, such as timing launches so as to minimise impact on residential areas.
