FAA opens new environmental review for SpaceX Starship buildout at Cape Canaveral
The FAA will prepare a supplemental environmental review for up to 76 Starship launches a year from Cape Canaveral's SLC-37.
what happened
The FAA published a notice of intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and open a public scoping period for SpaceX's proposed Starship-Super Heavy operations at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, per the Federal Register. The proposal covers up to 76 Starship-Super Heavy launches and up to 152 landings per year, including return-to-launch-site and ocean landings. SpaceX needs a modification to its existing vehicle operator license before it can conduct the operations; comments on the scoping period are due October 14, per the notice.
why it matters
The review is a precondition for SpaceX to fly Starship from a second Florida pad beyond Starbase, at a cadence far above its current flight rate; the Department of the Air Force has conditioned its own prior approval of the SLC-37 buildout on the FAA completing this airspace-impact analysis first. For other launch providers sharing Cape Canaveral's range and airspace, the scope and pace of this review will shape how much Starship traffic the Space Coast absorbs and when.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- SpaceX
- Category
- regulatory
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 5 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-09-29
- Published
- 2026-10-02 22:52 UTC