FAA will conduct a new environmental review of SpaceX’s Starship operations in Florida

SpaceX will have to clear another regulatory hurdle before it can ramp up work on its Starship megarocket on Florida’s Space Coast.

The company is currently building, testing and launching the 400-foot spaceship, which is still in development, at its Starbase location in South Texas. But SpaceX also wants to add Florida to the mix: It aims to fly the giant vehicle from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), where all of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket launches take place .

In 2019, a NASA-led Environmental Assessment (EA) concluded that Starship operations at KSC would not significantly impact the surrounding ecosystem. However, SpaceX’s plans for the site have since changed and a more in-depth assessment – an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) – is now in order, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today (May 10).

“While the 2019 EA prepared by NASA provides an analytical baseline, the environmental impacts of these proposed changes to Starship-Super Heavy LC-39A development and operations will be specifically analyzed in this EIS,” FAA officials wrote today in a statement (May 10). ).

Related: Relive SpaceX Starship’s third flight test in breathtaking photos

Starship consists of two elements, both designed to be completely and quickly reusable: a gigantic first stage booster called Super Heavy and a 50-meter-tall upper stage known as Starship, or simply ‘Ship’. SpaceX sees the vehicle as potentially revolutionary and says it could make Mars settlement and other ambitious exploration activities economically feasible.

A fully stacked spaceship has been launched three times so far. The first took place in April 2023, the second in November 2023 and the third on March 14 this year. Each of these flights departed from Starbase, with each of the last two lasting longer and achieving more milestones than its respective predecessor.

Proposed Starship activities on the LC-39A examined by the 2019 EA include infrastructure development, as well as approximately 24 launches per year, FAA officials explained.

“SpaceX is now proposing to build additional launch infrastructure not previously considered in the 2019 EA; launch an advanced design of the Starship and Super Heavy vehicle; to operate at an expected higher launch rate; and land the Super Heavy booster on LC-39A in support of Starship landings are no longer proposed to occur in Landing Zone 1 on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,” officials wrote in today’s update. (Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is next to KSC.)

The revised plan calls for up to 44 spacecraft launches from the LC-39A per year, FAA officials added today in an emailed statement.

SpaceX is responsible for developing the EIS, under the supervision of the FAA. The agency is asking for input on the issue; it will hold two in-person public meetings on the Space Coast on June 12 and a third on June 13, and host a virtual meeting on June 17. Public comments can also be submitted from today through June 24.

If you are interested in attending or contributing to these meetings, you can find more information here.

A positive result on the EIS would not prevent SpaceX from launching Starship from KSC; the company would still need to obtain a vehicle operator license from the FAA.

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