FAA opens environmental review of SpaceX plan for up to 456 Starship launches a year at Starbase
The FAA says it will prepare an environmental impact statement and hold public meetings on SpaceX's proposal to raise Starbase operations from 25 launches a year to as many as 456 launches and 912 landings, in two phases.
Photo: Steve Jurvetson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (file photo of Starship on the pad at Starbase before its fifth flight test, October 2024)
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a notice released on October 13 that it intends to prepare an environmental impact statement and hold public meetings on SpaceX's plans to expand Starship operations at its Starbase facility in South Texas, Insurance Journal reported in a story by Loren Grush.
SpaceX is proposing as many as 456 launches and 912 landings a year at the site, according to the FAA, which says the company is currently authorized for up to 25 launches and 50 landings a year there. In a first phase, SpaceX would fly up to 100 Starship launches and 200 landings a year, on any day and at any time. The 456-launch level would come in a second phase that could be implemented "within several years," with launches still allowed at any hour but only Monday through Friday.
The FAA said the 912-landing figure is the maximum number of landings that could occur at Starbase regardless of where Starship launched from, and that SpaceX could also choose to splash vehicle sections down in the Gulf of Mexico or the open ocean. The agency's analysis will evaluate potential risks to air quality, wildlife and coastal resources, among other things, and a draft will be released later for public comment.
Starship has flown at most five times in a year from Starbase and has launched three times so far in 2026, the report noted. SpaceX has yet to demonstrate the rapid reuse the vehicle is designed for, though Elon Musk has said the company hopes to land both major pieces of the vehicle back at Starbase before the end of the year.