SpaceX's Starship is coming to Kennedy Space Center in Florida — and its plan to use the launch facility means the Federal Aviation Administration will examine the potential environmental impact of Elon Musk's most powerful rockets blasting off the US East Coast.
My homemade spaceship
NASA's Environmental Assessment (EA) for the entire deal was completed in September 2019. The potential environmental impact of building and operating the Starship Super Heavy vehicle site was considered, and a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) was made.
However, that was for about 24 Starship Super Heavy launches per year. According to the FAA, SpaceX's latest proposal would involve building the necessary infrastructure to support up to 44 launches per year.
SpaceX's modifications include a capture tower that loads the rockets, additional propellant facilities, plans to land the Super Heavy booster on the LC-39A pad, and the launch of an upgraded rocket with up to nine Raptor engines on the Starship and up to 35 on the Super Heavy booster, according to the FAA. The current rocket uses six and 33 Raptor engines, respectively.
