The FAA Has Once Again Delayed Starship’s PEA Another Month
Over the past few years, we have watched SpaceX turn a barren landscape into a production and launch site of the future. Not only this but in this short time frame, the company has also managed to make immense progress on Starship between the manufacturing process, static fires, 10-kilometer flights, and much more. All of which leading up to the long-awaited orbital test flight.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a common theme of delays stopping SpaceX from launching. For a while now the FAA or Federal Aviation Administration has been working on a Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Launch Vehicle Program at the SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Site, in Cameron County, Texas. However, just like in previous months, it was just announced it will be delayed at least until the end of next month on May 31st.
While SpaceX is not quite ready for the orbital test flight, they are getting extremely close. If the company wants any chance at launching Starship from this location, the FAA needs to finish and approve SpaceX and Starship for launch. Here I will go more in-depth into the FAA’s recent delay, SpaceX’s progress, and what this means for the future of launching Starship.
Recent FAA Delay
Originally, the FAA intended to finish the PEA of Starship and Starbase in late 2021. However, now in late April of the next year, they are continuing to delay the process. Specifically, yesterday the FAA tweeted saying, “The FAA continues its Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the proposed @SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy project in Boca Chica, Texas. The new target date for issuing the final PEA is May 31.” Just one month ago on March 28th, the FAA tweeted out an identical tweet with a delay to April 29th. This tweet mentioned, “The FAA continues its Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the proposed @SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy project in Boca Chica, Texas. The new target date for issuing the final PEA is April 29.” These constant delays bring up the question of what exactly is the FAA working on and why is it taking so long? SpaceX proposes to conduct Starship and Super Heavy launch operations from the Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas. Through this process, SpaceX must apply for and obtain an experimental permit(s) and or a vehicle operator license from the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation to operate the Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle. The FAA’s evaluation of a permit or license application includes a review of 1) public safety issues (such as overflight of populated areas and payload contents); 2) national security or foreign policy concerns; 3) insurance requirements for the launch operator; and 4) potential environmental impact.
As of right now, the FAA published the Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Launch Vehicle Program at the SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Site on September 17th, 2021, for public review and comment. The FAA points out that they are finalizing the review of the Final PEA, including responding to comments and ensuring consistency with SpaceX’s licensing application. The FAA is also completing consultation and confirming mitigations for the proposed SpaceX operations. All consultations must be complete before the FAA can issue the Final PEA. Taking a closer look at the interaction between the public and this PEA, the FAA released the Draft PEA for public comment on September 17th, 2021. The original comment period was from September 17th, 2021 through October 18th, 2021. The FAA extended the comment period to November 1st, 2021 before finally closing the comment period. In addition, The FAA held two virtual public hearings to solicit comments from the public concerning the scope and content of the Draft PEA. The hearings were held on October 18th and October 20th, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. Central Time. At the start of the hearing, the FAA provided a Power Point presentation in English and Spanish. Afterwards, members of the public provided oral comments.
Taking a closer look at what the PEA is, we can determine what exactly the FAA is working on. The Draft PEA consists of a 21 page document highlighting practically all of SpaceX’s proposed operations with Starship at Starbase. Over half of these pages consist of a summary of environmental consequences and mitigation measures. In the beginning, the FAA sent an email on November 23rd, 2020, to interested parties notifying them that the FAA was in the beginning stages of conducting an environmental review for SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy proposal. The FAA also sent an email on December 22nd, 2020, stating that the agency was holding a public scoping period to determine the scope of issues for analysis in the draft PEA. The email provided an overview of the proposed project and the indication that the FAA would be considering the preparation of a programmatic EA as well as an overview of the FAA’s overall environmental review process. Many comments were received that brought up both concerns and the many benefits these operations would provide. What’s most frustrating about this process over the past few months is not necessarily the final PEA still not being released but instead the constant delays. If the FAA originally came out with a realistic time frame for the PEA rather than delaying it each month, people would not be so upset and disappointed with the process. This especially is the case considering as of right now, SpaceX is not quite ready yet. However, any more delays to this process and it could easily singlehandedly stop SpaceX from progressing with Starship.
SpaceX Progress & Options
Now that we know more about the recent FAA delay and what they have been working on, we can take a closer look at SpaceX’s progress and what this means for the future of the program. Currently, per usual, SpaceX is making very fast progress on Starship and Starbase. They have moved on from S20 and B4 and are now working on Booster 7, 8, Ship 24, etc. SpaceX continues to make fast progress and iterate each model. Many of us expected Ship 20 and Booster 4 to launch for the first orbital test flight but SpaceX has other plans. In terms of the recent FAA delay, it is beginning to become concerning. As I partially mentioned prior, right now SpaceX is not ready for an orbital test flight. The company still has a decent amount of work on different ground systems, Starship itself, and more. That being said, the company is close to the point where another month or two of delays from the FAA and they will be ready to launch but not allowed. This would be the worst case scenario as the company would be halted not by its progress but by external factors. However, there are a few things going in SpaceX’s favor regarding the FAA PEA and the future of Starship. The first has to do with the draft being delayed another month. Supposedly, the FAA has the final PEA ready and are reviewing the text to check and ensure SpaceX is staying consistent with what they detailed in the PEA and implemented all the mitigations before releasing it. If this is the case, we can expect this delay to be the last, and the Final PEA be released at the end of May. This would line up well with SpaceX’s progress and support a launch only months away this summer.
The other good news regarding the Starship program is the progress on Launch Complex 39A. This launch site is located in Florida and is already approved for the launches SpaceX desires. Here SpaceX has been launching Falcon 9 for a variety of missions. However, the company is also working on a Starship launch pad on the same complex. In recent months especially, SpaceX has been making impressive progress on this goal. This includes the development of land, construction of orbital launch tower segments, and more. It’s clear the company has learned from the process in Boca Chica and are applying this knowledge to the Florida Launch Complex. Assuming the FAA continues to delay SpaceX or stop them from launching altogether, this additional launch site is being built up as we speak and will support future Starship launches. While ideally both Starbase and the LC-39A are responsible for future Starship launches, one is better than nothing. For now, we will have to wait and see what the FAA does and continue to watch SpaceX progress in both Florida and Texas.
Conclusion
Over the past few years, many of us have watched SpaceX turn a tiny village into a next-generation launch and production site for Starship. After many different tests and developments, the company is only months away from the first orbital test flight. However, before this long-awaited launch, the FAA needs to finish and release the Final PEA. Just yesterday the FAA announced they delayed the process and moved the date to the end of next month on May 31st. Unfortunately, this is not the first time the FAA has done this. While SpaceX is not quite ready yet, they are getting very close. Any more delays will likely be the sole reason for the lack of an orbital test flight. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.
