FAA approves increase in Falcon 9 launches while studying Starship environmental impacts

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration has approved a significant increase in Falcon 9 launches from one Florida launch pad as it takes public input on plans for Starship launches from another.

The FAA issued Sept. 3 a record of decision concluding an environmental assessment for a proposal to increase Falcon 9 launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The decision allows SpaceX to conduct 120 launches annually from the pad, up from the previous limit of 50 per year.

The FAA said its analysis found there was no need for a more rigorous and lengthy environmental impact assessment. It did include several measures for SpaceX to follow to reduce effects on the environment, including limiting off-road driving to avoid killing a threatened species of snake in the area as well as minimizing use of artificial lighting.

The decision also allows SpaceX to build a Falcon 9 booster landing pad at SLC-40, adjacent to the launch site, with up to 34 landings a year. It is part of efforts to consolidate launch and landing facilities at the Cape, where SpaceX had used two pads at Launch Complex 13 for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy booster landings.

SpaceX retired one of those two pads, called Landing Zone 1, with the Aug. 1 launch of the Crew-11 mission. It will continue to use the other, Landing Zone 2, for the time being, but ultimately will hand the site back to the Space Force, which assigned Launch Complex 13 in 2023 to small launch vehicle startups Phantom Space and Vaya Space. Neither of those companies has imminent plans to launch from the site.

The FAA decision came just as SpaceX exceeded the previous limit of 50 launches a year from SLC-40. The company’s 52nd launch from the pad took place Sept. 3.

While the new limit allows a drastic increase in Falcon 9 launches — the equivalent of nearly one every three days — it appears unlikely SpaceX will approach that upper bound. A company executive said in July that this year and next will probably be the peak of Falcon 9 launches as SpaceX begins a transition to the company’s Starship vehicle.

That will include Starship launches from Florida. The FAA held an online public hearing Sept. 3 on proposals to conduct Starship launches from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, where SpaceX has already been building infrastructure for that vehicle. That meeting followed four in-person meetings held in late August in the area.

The public hearings came after the release of a draft environmental impact statement that examined a proposal to allow 44 Starship launches annually as well as 88 landings, 44 each of the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage.

The study examined the various environmental effects of both the launches and the landings, such as noise. The study found that up to 14% of residents in nearby communities would be awakened by the noise of a nighttime launch, and up to 82% by the sonic boom from a Super Heavy booster landing. Launch noise also posed a “substantial” risk of damage claims within several kilometers of the pad, all within the boundaries of Kennedy Space Center, with a 1-in-1,000 risk of damage in communities outside the center.

During the public comment period at the hearing, many people said they were worried about the noise and vibration impacts from Starship launches. That included the risk of damage to structures, particularly older homes. Others raised concerns about closures of a popular beach near the Kennedy Space Center for launches as well as airspace and maritime restrictions.

The report found that Starship launches could cause flight delays of between 40 minutes and two hours, and Starship landings of between 40 and 60 minutes, affecting several major Florida airports. Starship reentries could also result in airspace closures in several Latin American countries.

“There is the potential that there is going to be significant impact to commercial aviation,” said John Tiliacos, chief operating officer of Tampa International Airport, at the meeting. “That’s something that the FAA needs to give consideration to and, frankly, come up with a plan to mitigate that.”

Concerns about the impacts of Starship extend to other users of Cape Canaveral launch sites, particularly as the Space Force performs a separate environmental review regarding Starship launches at Space Launch Complex 37, the former Delta 4 launch facility.

“We are counting on the Space Force and the FAA to do a very thorough analysis of that and how it will affect not just the ecological environment but also the launch environment,” Tory Bruno, chief executive of United Launch Alliance, said at an Aug. 7 media briefing.

The size of Starship, he said, would likely halt operations at many other launch pads at the Cape when that vehicle is being tested and launched. The scope of those disruptions would be “unprecedented” given the vehicle’s size, he said.

“It’s something that’s not been on the range before, so they need to do a very thorough and careful analysis of that,” he said. “We are counting on them to do it so we can all use the range.”