SpaceX received the environmental all-clear to ramp up Starship launch operations in Boca Chica, according to an FAA report released on Tuesday.
The new approval will allow SpaceX to launch 25 times each year. In addition, it can conduct 50 annual landings—25 of Starship, and 25 of Super Heavy. Up to three of the launches can take place at night—and any landings after dark can only happen offshore, on an autonomous ship platform.
The reasoning: SpaceX needs the ability to conduct more launches to be able to quickly iterate on Starship, which NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the lunar surface in its Artemis III mission as soon as 2027, according to the report. So far, SpaceX has launched Starship a max of four times a year, and the cadence of flights has been held up in part by mishap investigations after missions had failures.
“Demand for launch services has continued to increase over the past 20 years, and the space industry’s growth projections indicate this will continue into the foreseeable future,” the FAA wrote in the report.
Citing increased Starship and Super Heavy launches, the agency continued: “By providing a reusable launch vehicle that returns to its launch site, the proposed action would reduce the cost of launch and increase efficiency, delivering greater access to space and enabling cost-effective delivery of cargo and people to the Moon and Mars.” (Martian and lunar exploration are also a big priority of the Trump administration, as evidenced by what received support in its recent skinny budget for NASA.)
Status quo: Starship launches from Boca Chica have been governed by a 2022 FAA approval that authorized an annual allotment of five Starship launches, five Super Heavy launches with Starship onboard, 10 Starship landings, and five Super Heavy landings. The new FAA approval more than doubles SpaceX’s launch cadence at Starbase.
Across the Gulf: Texas isn’t the only place where SpaceX is looking to get off the ground more frequently. The company wants to more than double its Falcon 9 launch cadence at Cape Canaveral, growing from 50 annual launches to 120. SpaceX is also asking to build a landing site of Falcon 9’s first-stage booster at Space Launch Complex 40 that could accommodate 34 landings each year.
The FAA is holding a virtual public meeting on this proposed increase on Thursday.
