TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The Federal Aviation Administration issued a final environmental review and approval Tuesday for SpaceX’s Starship to conduct launches in Florida, despite identifying significant environmental concerns with the project.
The agency’s final environmental impact statement, which identifies potential hazards to wildlife, air quality and noise pollution, was published alongside a record of decision supporting the project. While Tuesday’s decision doesn’t issue the final license to SpaceX, it clears a significant environmental hurdle. Licensing the Starship project in Florida would “allow the greatest development and growth of the U.S. commercial space launch industry,” the agency wrote in its decision.
SpaceX is seeking a license to launch its Starship-Super Heavy rocket, designed for missions to the moon and Mars, from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Starship, which is almost double the size of the commonly used Falcon 9 rocket, would launch 44 times and land 88 times per year due to separate landings of the Starship and Super Heavy rocket. SpaceX would also be approved to add additional infrastructure at an approved launch site at KSC, where it has already begun development.
Environmentalists expressed concern with the approval, asserting the state and federal government are not properly investigating or regulating the effects of SpaceX’s activities.
