15 Oct FAA Reviews SpaceX Plan for Up to 456 Starship Launches a Year

The Federal Aviation Administration has opened an environmental review of SpaceX’s request to launch Starship up to 456 times annually from Boca Chica, a big leap from the 25 now allowed. The public can weigh in through Nov. 30 and at meetings in Brownsville and Port Isabel in November, according to the FAA’s notice in the Federal Register.

SpaceX wants to get there in two steps. The first would allow up to 100 launches and 200 landings per year, split evenly between the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster, on any day and at any hour. The second would lift the ceiling to 456 launches, with as many as 912 landings, and liftoffs would be limited to weekdays, though still possible around the clock. The FAA says that phase would arrive within several years.

Bloomberg reported that the 912-landing figure is a cap for the Texas site no matter where a Starship launches from, and that SpaceX could instead bring the vehicle’s pieces down in the Gulf or out at sea.

For now, the program is far from those numbers. SpaceX has never flown Starship more than five times in a year from Starbase, and has launched it three times so far this year, Bloomberg reported. The Sept. 28 launch was the rocket’s 14th flight and its first to reach orbit, where it deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, Space.com reported. The rocket is built to be reused quickly with little refurbishment, but SpaceX has yet to unlock that capability, Bloomberg reported. CEO Elon Musk hopes to return both pieces to Starbase by the end of the year and has said that within a decade Starship could launch more than once an hour. SpaceX has also announced plans for a Louisiana launch site that could cost as much as $100 billion.

The current 25-launch, 50-landing limits date to May 2025, when the FAA signed off on an environmental assessment and found no significant impact.

The FAA is preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement, a more detailed study than the 2025 assessment. It will cover subjects including water resources, historic properties, coastal resources, air quality, noise and socioeconomics, and a draft will go out later for another round of public comment. Bloomberg reported the review will also weigh wildlife and that more launches could disrupt flights as airlines steer around launches and falling debris.

One local law firm says the review leaves something out. The Moore Law Firm said the FAA’s notice doesn’t list harm to houses and other buildings as its own subject and that the sole alternative the agency will measure the plan against is “No Action,” which keeps the 25-launch limit, according to the Brownsville Herald, which cited a news release from the firm.