The agency will conduct environmental impact testing and hold public scoping meetings as part of the decision process.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it will be reviewing SpaceX’s request to increase the number of permitted yearly launches of its Starship rocket. SpaceX currently has permission for 25 launches per year, but has requested to increase them to 456.
The FAA has stated it intends “to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, open a public scoping period and hold public scoping meetings for SpaceX’s proposal.”
The Starship rocket has already flown 14 times, launched from Starbase near Brownsville, Texas. SpaceX plans to expand its launch facilities by building spaceports in Florida and Louisiana in the coming year.
“The rate at which we launch Starship will increase dramatically as we solve rapid and complete reusability,”CEO Elon Musk said. “At first there will be a little bit of refurbishment that’s needed between each flight, and we’ll iron out the need for any refurbishment such that you can immediately land the rocket and launch it again, just like an airplane.”
He also said the goal is for SpaceX to increase the annual number of launches to 10,000 by 2030.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Administrator Bryan Bedford as the FAA reviews the request to increase the number of Starship’s flights per year.
- For U.S. officials to be prudent as they study the impact of such spaceship launch frequency.
- For SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as he works to create new innovations within the space travel industry.
Sources: Space.com, PJ Media, Ars Technica
