McGregor has established a threshold of 115 decibels, which is comparable to the noise produced by a loud motorcycle or power saw, according to the Center for Hearing, Speech and Language. If SpaceX exceeds that limit, it must pay a fee of $7,500 and discuss with city officials what it will do to ensure it does not repeat the violation.

City Manager Kevin Evans said SpaceX is a good corporate citizen whose tests run typically below 100 decibels and have never exceeded the 115-decibel mark. Evans said he has heard nothing from SpaceX about increased testing.

SpaceX pays $544,165 annually to the city of McGregor, employs 300 people there and has said it has plans to double the workforce in the future.

New landing areas

The company recently announced it is seeking federal approval to create two new landing areas for spent rockets near Cape Canaveral. This would give SpaceX three such areas on Florida’s Space Coast as it prepares to launch its bigger Falcon Heavy later this year, possibly returning three rockets to earth at the same time.