WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration has delayed the completion of an environmental review for orbital launches by SpaceXs Starship vehicle out of Texas. However, it may not have any effect on near-term launch plans.
March 25th, the FAA announced that it had delayed the completion of the final Programmatic Environmental Assessment of Starship/Super Heavy orbital launches at Boca Chica (Texas) by one month. The release date for the assessment, previously scheduled for March 28, is now April 29.
This is the third delay in the completion the assessment. It was originally scheduled to be released at the end December 2021. First, the FAA delayed release to February 28, then to March 28, citing ongoing efforts to complete the assessment and coordinate other government agencies.
The FAA is currently reviewing Final PEA and has completed consultation and coordination with agencies at the Federal, State, and local levels.
According to Federal government permits timetableThe two most important elements for the environmental assessment are the Endangered Species Act consultations with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the consultations with agencies regarding a Section 106 review element of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Although environmental delays can be frustrating for SpaceX supporters, it is not clear if they are actually slowing down SpaceX’s launch activities. SpaceX must pass an environmental review in order to be granted an FAA launch licence for Starship orbital flight.
Elon Musk, SpaceX Chief Executive Officer, stood behind a Starship/Super Heavy vehicle at the pad during a Feb. 10, Boca Chica event. He stated that the company was still a few months away from its first launch, based on both FAA licenses and technical work.
It now seems likely that the vehicle that arrived on the pad won’t be the one that launches the first orbital rocket. SpaceXs Starbase site, Boca Chica, suggests that a different Super Heavy booster or Starship vehicle will be used to launch the first orbital flight. However this will only be confirmed after extensive ground testing.
SpaceX’s shift in resources could be a contributing factor. Musk tweeted March 5th that SpaceX had reprioritized cybersecurity resources to address the jamming of Starlink signals from Ukraine. Starship & Starlink V2 will experience slight delays, he wrote without further explanation.
Musk suggested at the February event that Starship test launches could be moved from Boca Chica into the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, if there are long delays in obtaining a license to launch from Boca Chica. SpaceX is currently working on a launch pad for Starship at Launch Complex 39A and other production facilities at the center.
I think our worst-case scenario is that it would take us six to eight more months to build up the Cape tower and launch from there.