The Department of Defense is looking for a new home for SpaceX’s Starship, launching the process to determine what the environmental impact would be to allow the world’s most powerful rocket to launch from Florida’s Space Coast.
Led by the U.S. Air Force, which includes the Space Force, but working with NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, what is officially called an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has the most rigorous requirements when weighing the detriments a project might have on its surroundings.
The Air Force detailed its plans for the EIS on a new website: spaceforcestarshipeis.com.
For now SpaceX continues to attempt test launches of the Starship and Super Heavy rocket from its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The company had two launches in 2023 in which the rocket generating more than 16 million pounds of thrust made it off the launch pad, but ultimately ended with the hardware exploding minutes after takeoff both times.
The first of the two launches created so much power on liftoff that it destroyed the launch pad, prompting major changes that ultimately paid off for the second launch, with the pad sustaining little damage. A third attempt to get Starship to complete its suborbital test flight could come before the end of next month.
The sheer power of Starship, though, had NASA raising flags as SpaceX has been constructing a tower at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad…
