On June 13, the FAA finally released its decision on the Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for orbital launches of SpaceX’s in development Starship/Super Heavy rocket from Boca Chica. Many in the space fandom were complaining about the FAA taking forever to do this, but honestly, they did it very, very quickly, taking only a year, which is about as long as other environmental reviews have taken.

The ruling was a Mitigated Finding Of No Significant Impact, meaning that the launches would be able to go ahead with several significant requirements and limitations. The most significant limitation is only 5 orbital launches and only 5 suborbital launches from the site per year.

The FAA is on SpaceX’s side in this, contrary to public impressions. They want the launches to happen. By making sure every base is covered in this environmental review, they can avoid lengthy litigation which could bog down the project even further and possibly cause a more detailed and even longer environmental review.

SpaceX still needs to apply for several more permits before spaceport and launch licenses will be given, including applying to the United States Army Corps of Engineers for filling wetlands and to the State of Texas for discharging pollutants in a safe manner. There are almost 100 mitigations in the 40-page document, mostly pertaining to environmental impacts due to launching the largest rocket in history from a wildlife refuge.

Many of these mitigations have already been implemented, and the remaining ones aren’t too difficult. For example, SpaceX will be working with the Fish and Wildlife Service on animal crossings to help ocelots and other wildlife get to and from habitats and restore certain areas of the refuge.

Additionally, SpaceX will be limited on how often the road and beach can be closed, with eighteen specific holidays where the road cannot be closed and a yearly limit on how many hours it can be closed.

Other basic mitigations SpaceX must implement are donating to specific local environmental groups and hosting regular tours of the facility for local school children focusing on STEM, as well as putting up interpretive signs around the site in English and Spanish focusing on the wildlife in the area and SpaceX’s activities. Launch site lighting and its impacts on the wildlife and humans around the area get a whole section of the report.

One of the more unusual requirements is for SpaceX to prepare a report on the history of the Mexican and Civil Wars as they relate to the area. This is likely because the Palmito Ranch Battlefield National Historical Monument is in the area that will be closed during launch operations for a not insignificant part of the year.

Still, most mitigations are extremely basic, and SpaceX should have no problem meeting this very low bar.

Up next for SpaceX is getting the flight hardware through a testing campaign without breaking it and finishing building the actual launch pad. Part of this testing campaign will be a full 33-engine static fire of the Super Heavy booster; SpaceX has so far done six engines on the Starship. And of course, they need to finish getting the permits mentioned in the PEA and do all of those various mitigation tasks.

Given the limitations required, I think the actual regular launches of Starship will happen at the Cape, where SpaceX is building a whole separate factory and launch pad for the big rocket.

Speaking of that, SpaceX is seeking to outfit SLC-40 with some of the same crew access facilities as LC-39A and launch Crew Dragon from there in the event of a Starship launch failure damaging that pad and cutting off regular access for NASA crews to the ISS. This is in response to NASA’s concerns about such an event; however, getting approval for these mods could take a while.

More Information

PDF: FAA Mitigation Report 

SpaceX faces NASA hurdle for Starship backup launch pad (Reuters)