The Federal Aviation Administration, NASA and other parties have published a notice of intent to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for SpaceX Starship launches from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, where it anticipates up to forty-four launches and landing at the facility.

A partially completed tower for those launches already stands at LC-39A, but construction was seemingly halted several months ago, and the launch pad was not finished. Now, it appears that plans are still very much active not only to launch Starship from Pad LC-39A, but also potentially from SLC-37 or a new launch pad, SLC-50, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. An Environmental Impact Statement for the potential Cape Canaveral facility is already underway, with the initial public information portion already concluded. The draft for that study is expected late this year.

This Notice provides information to Federal, State, and local agencies; Native American tribes; and other interested persons regarding the FAA’s intent to prepare an EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of issuing a commercial launch Vehicle Operator License to SpaceX for the Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. SpaceX proposes to construct launch, landing, and other associated infrastructure at and in proximity to LC-39A. The proposal would also include Starship-Super Heavy launches at LC-39A; recoverable Super Heavy booster and Starship landings at LC-39A or on a droneship; and expendable Super Heavy booster and Starship landings in the ocean.

Via Federal Register

At this time, there has been no statement from any party as to whether this new EIS will affect the plans for the potential Starship facility being studied for Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It could be one or the other, or most likely, both, given the high cadence of launches that SpaceX is planning for Starship.

Talk of Titusville contacted media officials at Kennedy Space Center regarding the timeline of the EIS, but they have not responded as of this time. Generally, an EIS period is between 6-12 months, but whether that is the case with the Starship EIS remains to be seen.

What Is An Environmental Impact Statement?

“The environmental impact statement (EIS) is a government document that outlines the impact of a proposed project on its surrounding environment. In the United States, these statements are mandated by federal law for certain projects. Environmental impact statements are meant to inform the work and decisions of policymakers and community leaders.”

“In the United States at the federal level, an EIS is a report mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), to assess the potential impact of actions “significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.” This requirement under NEPA does not prohibit harm to the environment, but rather requires advanced identification and disclosure of harm. Examples include building, clean-up, and infrastructure projects. But the NEPA mandate is broader. Development projects that constitute major federal action, as defined by law, including those that use federal land, federal tax dollars, or are under federal agency jurisdiction, are required to assess the impact of a proposed project on the physical, cultural, and human environments affected by the proposed project. “

—American Bar Association

Today’s new filing adds some depth, “In September 2019, NASA completed a Final Environmental Assessment for the SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Launch Vehicle at Kennedy Space Center to evaluate the potential environmental impacts resulting from construction and operations associated with the utilization of LC-39A for the SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle in practical applications.”

Additionally, “SpaceX now proposes to construct additional launch infrastructure not previously contemplated in the 2019 EA: a Super Heavy booster catch tower, a natural gas liquefaction system and air separation unit for propellant generation, and stormwater/deluge ponds. SpaceX also proposes to launch an advanced design of the Starship and Super Heavy vehicle (up to nine raptor engines for Starship and up to 35 raptor engines for the Super Heavy booster), operate at a projected higher launch tempo (up to 44 launches per year), and land the Super Heavy booster at LC-39A in support of its reusability concept. Starship landings are no longer proposed to occur at Landing Zone 1 at CCSFS.”

Accompanying propellant storage and distribution pipelines would also need to be constructed, especially if the launch cadence cited in the notice comes to pass. That, and SpaceX will need to construct fabrication, storage and refurbishment facilities for both the booster (the “Super Heavy” first stage) and the Starship, the now-familiar spacecraft that at first glance resembles a rocket from a 1950’s science fiction film.

Altogether, that would mean a lot of construction, along with the personnel to do the work. Afterward, a substantial number of people would also need to launch and maintain the Starship systems. All told, this could lead to significant economic activity on the Space Coast.

Starship At a Glance

Currently under development near Brownville, Texas, Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. According to SpaceX, it will be fully reusable, and capable of lifting 150 tons of payload to orbit in a reusable configuration, and 250 tons when it is configured as a conventional expendable rocket.

Current Starship designs are 397 feet tall, and 29.5 feet in diameter, producing some 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

By comparison, the Saturn V rockets used for the Apollo Program were 362 feet tall, and produced 7.6 million pounds of thrust. By any measure, Starship is a huge rocket with immense power, and its launches and returns will be heard across the Space Coast.

Similar to how SpaceX Falcon 9 completes in many of its launches today, the Starship booster would return to land at its launch site when its task for the mission has been completed. Unlike Falcon 9, which lands at a landing area close by, Starship would return to its pad, where it would be grappled by “chopsticks” as it completed its final approach.

Starship is planned to be a fully reusable vehicle, meaning that its second stage (often simply called “the ship” in SpaceX parlance) would reenter and return to land at its launch pad using the same chopsticks as the booster.

Starship is still somewhat early in its development, with three test launches so far, and a fourth on the plate for the next few weeks. Along with SLS, it is a vehicle integral to Project Artemis, this time in the role of being the Human Landing System. HLS is where astronauts will land, live and work on the lunar surface, with the forward plan being for extended stays.

2024 Document

You can read the notification document released today in the Federal Register (original link is above) from the link below:

Final Environmental Assessment for the SpaceX Starship and 
Super Heavy Launch Vehicle at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) 

If you are interested in reading the 2019 EIS that is mentioned above, here it is: