what would really work for long distance. I think there could be quite a few of those. We've got these two converted oil rigs that are going to be turned into orbital launch sites, and they can be moved around the world. And then over time I think there's going to be floating spaceports like ocean spaceports. "And then I think probably Cape (Canaveral) would be our sort of main operational launch site. "So it's like where we would try out new designs and new versions of the rocket," Musk said. I guess our worst-case scenario is that we would be delayed for six to eight months to build up the Cape launch tower and launch from there."Īn EIS for Boca Chica would take much longer than the EA, which the FAA started last summer, "so we'd have to shift our priorities to Cape (Canaveral)," Musk said.Īssuming orbital Starship development is allowed to continue at Boca Chica, though, the site is well suited as SpaceX's advanced research-and-development location, he said. So we are actually approved from an environmental standpoint to launch from (launch pad) 39A. "We actually applied for environmental approval for launching from the Cape a few years ago and received it. "Now we do have the alternative of the Cape," he said. Musk said he thinks SpaceX's team has enough experience successfully launching Starships now that the first launch of the Starship/Super Heavy combination "would not have a significant impact." He conceded that litigation could also delay the first orbital launch from Boca Chica, if not a thumbs-down from the FAA. He said he's optimistic the FAA will grant approval, adding that "objectively, I think is not something that will be harmful to the environment." Despite earlier failures to land a Starship prototype successfully, which in one case resulted in Starship pieces being scattered over a large area, those hurdles were surmounted on last May 5 when the three-engine Starship SN15 executed an incident-free launch, high-altitude flight and landing at Boca Chica. "We've gotten sort of a rough indication that there may be an approval in March, but that's all we know." "We don't have a ton of insight into where things stand with the FAA," Musk said. ![]() ![]() Starship is also being developed for transporting people and cargo between points on Earth. Starship is being developed as the Human Landing System for NASA's Artemis program to put astronauts on the moon for the first time in half a century, to carry people to Mars to establish self-sustaining settlements as a means of ensuring the survival of the human race, and to eventually take humans out of the solar system altogether. The FAA is wrapping up a Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) of SpaceX's plans for Boca Chica, begun after the company moved the bulk of its Starship development program here as opposed to the original plan of 12 commercial launches a year using much less powerful Falcon rockets as opposed to the Super Heavy boosters now being built at Boca Chica. 10 update on Starship development live from the company's Boca Chica site, dubbed Starbase, said the historic first orbital test launch of a Starship-Super Heavy vehicle could be from Florida's Cape Canaveral rather than Cameron County, depending on the results of a Federal Aviation Administration environmental review expected to be released soon. ![]() ![]() (TNS) - SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, presenting his Feb.
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