The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that SpaceX’s plans for the company’s massive Starbase launch site in South Texas will have some environmental impact on the surrounding land and area, but not enough to require a full environmental impact statement. . SpaceX will now have to make more than 75 changes to its proposal for the Starbase facility if the company wants to avoid further review and eventually obtain an FAA license to launch its new Starship rocket into orbit from the site.
The SpaceX Starbase facility is located in a small town called Boca Chica, Texas, just south of Texas along the Rio Grande River and the U.S.-Mexico border. For the past few years, SpaceX has been using the site to build full-scale prototypes of Starship, the company’s next-generation monster rocket designed to take people and cargo to deep space destinations such as the moon and Mars. SpaceX has already performed various high-altitude test flights with Starbase prototypes of Starship, but now the company hopes to actually launch Starship into space for the first time and send the vehicle into orbit.
The fate of the SpaceX Starbase facility in Boca Chica hangs in the balance
To launch Starship into orbit by Starbase, SpaceX first needs an FAA launch license. And the fate of the SpaceX Starbase facility in Boca Chica has been hanging in the balance for the past year and a half as the FAA conducts an environmental review of how the company’s launch operations will affect the environment. Now, with the decision made, SpaceX will have to deal with more than 75 actions that the FAA has listed in order for the company to reduce its environmental impact on the area. If SpaceX makes these changes, it should help pave the way for the company to get a license to launch Starship, although this is not yet guaranteed.
SpaceX said on Twitter that it sees the decision as good news for moving forward with its launch plans.
Initially, SpaceX did not plan to launch its future rocket Moon and Mars from Texas. SpaceX bought its first piece of land in Boca Chica in 2012 with the intention of creating a purely commercial launch site where the company could launch its much smaller Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Ultimately, SpaceX planned to launch up to 12 times a year from the area, away from the hustle and bustle of its much busier launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida. To that end, the FAA conducted a full environmental review of SpaceX’s plans, and in 2014 the agency published an environmental impact statement or EIS detailing how these smaller launches will affect the area. Completion of the EIS can take many months and often years, as it requires interviewing experts, scientists, business people and residents, as well as conducting rigorous analysis and research on how the proposed action will affect the immediate human environment.
However, SpaceX’s plans have changed significantly since the first EIS was published. Starting in 2018, the company has significantly intensified production activities in Boca Chica, after deciding to dedicate the facility in South Texas solely to the production of prototypes of Starship. The more modest commercial launch facility that SpaceX once envisioned has become a thriving installation, filled with massive warehouses and tents and dominated by 24-hour construction by thousands of employees.
With SpaceX’s growing presence in the area, the company also began conducting high-altitude flight tests with its Starship prototypes – launching vehicles at altitudes of about 30,000 to 40,000 feet into the air before attempting to land them. back to Earth. Most of these tests end in fire explosions, with only one successfully landing. A prototype fell apart just before landing in March 2021, scattering metal debris at a nearby wildlife sanctuary.
SpaceX will have to deal with the 75 actions listed by the FAA
Test flights, combined with ongoing construction and ground tests, have led to growing tensions with the nearby community. Starbase is located next to a small neighborhood of several dozen houses called Boca Chica Village, which is really only accessible via a lonely state highway that connects to Starbase. This road is often closed during tests and other demonstrations, which restricts access to both the village and the nearby beach. Residents also complain of disruption to their daily lives, as they have often been asked to leave their homes during major tests. Many in the village of Boca Chica have sold their properties to SpaceX, although several residents have retained their homes.
Finally, in late 2020, the FAA announced plans to conduct an environmental review of SpaceX’s plans to launch Starship into orbit from Starbase. In September 2021, the FAA launched a project programmatic environmental assessment, or PEA, outlining SpaceX’s updated plans for the region. The document reveals that during the current development of Starship, SpaceX plans to perform up to 20 suborbital launches of Starship per year, sending the vehicle alone at high altitudes or into space, but not into orbit before trying to land it. back to Earth. The company also plans to make up to five orbital and / or suborbital launches with Starship a year on top of the Super Heavy Booster, a massive rocket that SpaceX is also developing to give Starship the extra thrust it needs to orbit. During these launches, Super Heavy will also try to land back on Earth, either on a landing pad or on a platform in the nearby Gulf of Mexico.
Eventually, SpaceX estimated that it would have to close access to the state highway for a total of 500 hours each year for normal operations and an additional 300 hours each year for anomalies. And things are sure to change as SpaceX progresses. SpaceX expected that the number of orbital launches would increase over time as suborbital flights decreased. In addition to the interruption, SpaceX outlined other major additions to its plans, including the creation of a natural gas pre-treatment system for methane purification to be used in the Starship rocket. And there has been speculation that SpaceX will have to build a pipeline to transport gas to the plant.
SpaceX has since canceled plans for a natural gas pre-treatment system, a power plant and a desalination plant, according to an FAA ruling released today. The company is also modifying the capabilities of its Raptor engine, which is used to power Starship. Because of these changes, SpaceX doesn’t need as many engines for its vehicles as it expected before, but the FAA has concluded that this will not have any “noticeable changes in environmental impact.”
As part of its environmental review, the FAA held a comment period on SpaceX’s proposed plans, which drew both intense criticism and support from members of the public. Many critics have urged the FAA to run a new EIS, as the one held in 2014 was no longer adequate based on SpaceX’s new plans. The FAA said it received more than 18,000 comments during that period, which contributed to prolonging the decision-making process as SpaceX had to prepare responses to each of the comments. The FAA also had to consult with various government agencies to make its decision, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Park Service, which raised some questions about the potential effects of SpaceX on the area. In a biological opinion submitted to the FAA, FWS notes that there has been a decline in the population of the tube snake, an endangered bird that nests in Boca Chica, correlated with the increase in SpaceX activity in the area, CNBC reported.
As part of this decision, the FAA will not conduct another EIS, which will potentially save SpaceX some time to move forward with its first orbital launch. But the company still has work to do. More than 75 actions listed by the FAA include things SpaceX can do to address its impact on air quality, sound levels and access to the nearby beach. The company will have to give advance notice of its launch to local authorities and the general public. SpaceX also cannot close roads during 18 identified holidays and can only close up to five weekends a year.
Prior to the FAA’s decision, SpaceX also received a potential blow to its plans in Boca Chica from the Army Corps of Engineers. In March, the Corps informed SpaceX that it was withdrawing the company’s application for permission to expand Starbase, citing a lack of requested information provided by the company. SpaceX may reactivate the permit application process by providing the information requested by the Corps, although it is unclear whether and when SpaceX will comply.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is working on a potential Plan B for Starship. In December, the company began construction of the Starship launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, an area that has hosted orbital launches for the past half century. SpaceX now has two launch sites outside the area for its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
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