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FAA Invites Public To Submit Comments On SpaceX's Environmental Review For Starship Program In Texas –‘Support is greatly appreciated!’ says Elon Musk

FAA Invites Public To Submit Comments On SpaceX's Environmental Review For Starship Program In Texas –‘Support is greatly appreciated!’ says Elon Musk

Featured Image Source: Tesmanian.com/photographer: Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve via Twitter. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is inviting the public to submit their thoughts on SpaceX’s draft environmental review for the Starship/Super Heavy program at Boca Chica Beach in Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas. The aerospace company is developing the world’s most powerful launch vehicle to enable humanity to become a multi-planet species.

SpaceX was awarded a $2.9 billion Human Landing System (HLS) contract from NASA to develop a Starship to land astronauts on the Moon. SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s ambition goes beyond returning astronauts to the lunar surface – he wants to enable humanity to create the first sustainable colony on the Red Planet. Musk believes it is important for humans to create a second home on Mars to “preserve the light of consciousness,” he says. If you also believe that the future of humanity should be multiplanetary, now is your chance to support SpaceX’s Starship development in South Texas. –“We want to hear from you!” the FAA said on Friday, stating that they are “…now open for public comment until October 18.”

The 30-day public comment period enables the public to submit a short letter or comment to the FAA via e-mail regarding SpaceX’s Starship operations at Boca Chica. The FAA also plans to hold virtual public hearings on October 6 and October 7. “Please add your voice to the public comments. Support is greatly appreciated!” Musk said, “Humanity’s future on the moon, Mars & beyond depends upon it. Thanks, Elon,” he wrote in a Twitter post. If you would like to submit a comment, E-mail the FAA at: SpaceXBocaChica@icf.com.

The company is preparing to test launch its first full-stack Super Heavy Starship to orbit this year. The vehicle will liftoff from South Texas and land off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. “SpaceX cannot launch the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle until the FAA completes its licensing process, which includes the environmental review and other safety and financial responsibility requirements,” the Administration stated.

The FAA released an 152-page PDF document by SpaceX that evaluates the potential environmental impact of SpaceX operations at Boca Chica, including how rocket launches and landings could affect the neighboring wildlife refuge, the city of Brownsville, and South Padre Island. It also reviews how they plan to recover debris, launch pad and tower construction, road beach closures, among other launch-related things. The draft environmental review also elaborates on some things that local residents may concerned about, like public beach access, spaceflight noise levels, and wildlife.

SpaceX closes access to the beach down Highway 4 road during spaceflight activities to ensure public safety. The document states that road "closures would be limited to up to 500 hours per year for nominal operations and up to an additional 300 hours per year to address anomalies." It also states that SpaceX plans to perform up to 20 suborbital Starship launches and 5 orbital flights annually at Boca Chica that “would include Lunar and Mars missions, satellite payload missions, and the possibility of future human flight to the moon and Mars. From the Boca Chica Launch Site, orbital launches would primarily be to low inclinations with flight trajectories north or south of Cuba that minimize land overflight," they stated. The document provides detailed descriptions about how SpaceX operations could impact the region. They concluded that space activities will not cause significant impact on air quality, wildlife, and other environmental factors in the surrounding region, such as noise level during spaceflight activities. The 152-page PDF document is linked at the FAA's offical website: PDF document.

Featured Image Source: Tesmanian.com/photographer: Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve via Twitter. 

About the Author

Evelyn Arevalo

Evelyn Arevalo

Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.

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