SpaceX may continue to develop and test its giant Starship vehicle in South Texas, provided the company makes efforts to mitigate its impact on the environmentally sensitive area, according to a long-awaited review by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
This FAA review, called the Program Environmental Assessment (PEA), measures the impact on the environment Star ship activities at Starbase, the SpaceX facility near Brownsville.
The PEA was originally expected to be released by the end of 2021, but the FAA they moved the deadline back several timesrecalling the need to consult other agencies and analyze the thousands of public comments submitted in response to a draft published in mid-September.
photos: SpaceX lifts a huge super heavy rocket on a launch pad
One step closer to the first orbital flight test of Starship pic.twitter.com/jxqEsM62gc June 13, 2022
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That work is finally done, the FAA announced today (June 13th). And the result is mostly good news for SpaceX: The company can continue its work on Starship at Starbase, which is currently focusing on preparing the huge vehicle for its first orbital test flight, without the need for a declaration of environmental impact, a more rigorous and time-consuming review.
In fact, SpaceX responded to PEA ‘s announcement today with holiday tweet (opens in new section): “One step closer to Starship’s first orbital flight test.”
But the final PEA does not give SpaceX the freedom to do as it sees fit in and around Starbase, which is on the Gulf Coast in a biodiversity hotspot. The company needs to take more than 75 actions to reduce its environmental impact on the area.
“After consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there will be earlier notifications of launches to reduce the time that US Highway 4 is closed during launch operations. The highway crosses Boca Chica Beach, Texas State Parks and the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge, FAA officials said in an email today.
“Closure will not be allowed on 18 identified holidays, and weekend restrictions are limited to no more than five weekends a year, ensuring stable access to the shelter and park throughout the calendar year,” they added. “The FAA will also require real-time notifications when access restrictions begin, end or are lifted.”
SpaceX must take other measures, including allowing a biologist to monitor the plant and animal populations in the area; informing the local community about activities that could produce loud noises such as sound booms; helps ensure that debris is removed from sensitive habitats; and changing the lighting setting to reduce the impact on the neighboring beach and nocturnal wildlife.
You can read the final PEA, as well as a number of other related documents at FAA website (opens in a new section).
Starship consists of a huge first-degree booster called the Super Heavy and a 165-foot (50-meter) upper-class spacecraft known as the Starship. Both elements will be fully and quickly reusable, founder and CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk said.
SpaceX sees Starship as a potentially revolutionary transportation system that will make the colonization of Mars and a number of other research feats economically feasible. NASA sees promise in the vehicle, choosing it as the first moon landing crew for it Artemis lunar program.
SpaceX conducted a number high altitude test flights from Starbase with prototypes from the upper stage of Starship, but the upcoming first orbital experience will be a huge leap for the program. It is not clear when exactly this will happen and not all regulatory boxes have been checked; SpaceX has yet to receive a launch license from the FAA.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out there (opens in a new section) “(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book on the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow it on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new section). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new section) or incl Facebook (opens in a new section).
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