As SpaceX moves on, Space Coast will increase the launch of Falcon 9 and gain more rocket-sounding and sonic boom as new landing pads are built at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center.
On March 14, the Federal Aviation Administration released a 116-page draft environmental assessment of the first person to target Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40. SpaceX wants to increase its releases from 50 to 120 per year.
The assessment rejected the proposal to build another new landing pad in Canaveral due to environmental concerns, but appears to set up SpaceX to advance that plan.
The FAA partners with the Air Force, Coast Guard and NASA for assessments, but NASA is the lead agency for the second expected evaluation of Kennedy Space Center launch complex 39-A this spring.
The construction of a pair of new landing sites on the Space Coast provides immediate access to the reliance on two landing pads at Canaveral’s launch complex 13. That space is reserved by the Federal Spatial Forces as the future launch sites for two other commercial launch providers (Phantom Space and Vaya Space), but neither of them have yet to put rockets in space.
Space Force’s goal is to maintain landing sites in the same location where they were launched to SpaceX and other launch providers. Space Force is not planning to renew its SpaceX license to land on SpaceX’s Launch Complex 13 after it runs out this summer.
In the case of Canaveral, the final design built two landing pads despite SpaceX’s proposal.
The assessment declared that these proposals were unacceptable because they were so harmful to the habitats of Scrub Jay and Southeastern Beach Mouse in Florida, and overtaking the wetlands too much and flying safety concerns were too great for the SpaceX hangar on the property.
The final proposal is a 400-foot-diameter pad and gravel apron, and SpaceX will also build a new nitrogen gas line, a 30-foot pedestal for post-landing processing, and an area for crane storage, adding about 10 acres of development to the site.
“The FAA concluded in advance that the proposed behavior would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment,” the assessment said.
SpaceX wants to land up to 34 first stage boosters on the site every year. SpaceX performed 12 booster landings in Canaveral’s landing zone in 2024, and only six times in 2023.
The Canaveral Assessment is working on an evaluation of the Kennedy Space Center, which NASA is working on, assessing the proposed landing zone of the Falcon 9 booster at launch complex 39-A. Both evaluations are necessary under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Spend your days with Hayes
Subscribe to our free Stephenly newsletter
Columnist Stephanie Hayes shares thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday.
You’re all signed up!
Want more free weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Check out all options
SpaceX aims to land up to 20 boosters at the Kennedy Space Center.
A total of 54 landings is actually the same upper limit as for the two existing landing zones.
The FAA said a draft environmental assessment for the Kennedy Space Center is expected this spring, but said that a launch from KSC will only land at KSC, while a launch from Canaveral will only land at Canaveral.
SpaceX needs to do droneship landing in the Atlantic.
These two SpaceX requests are currently only available from Texas for potential launch and landing work for the large SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Rocket, apart from the two other environmental assessments underway by the FAA and the Air Force.
As with all reviews, the FAA only issues a license if other factors are met, including safety, risk and financial liability.
For Canaveral ratings, the FAA will have a public comment period until April 24th. A virtual public meeting will be held on April 16th, and you will need to register to participate.
At the end of the public comment period, the FAA can issue a “discovery with no significant impact,” known as FONSI, or move forward with a more stringent environmental impact statement.
The Air Force has already issued a finding that it would not have a major impact in a related document written by Colonel Marcia Kikley, the Air Force mission maintenance chief.
She said the proposed actions “do not have a significant personal or cumulative impact on resources.”
This includes minor negative impacts on air quality, climate, health, cultural, water, biological, coastal resources, land use and socioeconomic resources, but SpaceX will implement “mitigation efforts” to limit the impact.
She said that alternative sites are also considered as SpaceX has a significant stake in the launch of its national security mission, but it violates guaranteed access to the needs of Space Force’s space program.
“We conclude that implementing proposed actions and related mitigation measures will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment,” she writes. “Therefore, no environmental impact statement is necessary. This FONSI is appropriate.”
