SpaceX secured crucial U.S. regulatory approval on Tuesday to boost the number of annual Starship rocket launches from Texas and permit booster landings in different water locations, enabling the company to advance the development of its giant Mars rocket.
The Federal Aviation Administration(FAA), capping a years-long review, said SpaceX's proposal to increase the number of Texas Starship launches from five to 25 would not have a major impact on the surrounding environment, nor would associated booster landings or potential rocket explosions over the Gulf of Mexico and some international waters.
The agency said it determined that changing SpaceX's Starship license to support the increased rocket activity "would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment" under the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock environmental protection law that required the FAA's review.
The regulatory green light is a boon for a massive rocket poised to play a key role in the U.S. space program, especially under President Donald Trump.
Musk, who spent a quarter of a billion dollars backing Trump's election campaign, has had substantial influence over the administration's space agenda to align it with his vision of sending humans to Mars, a destination for which Starship is designed.
The FAA decision comes days after SpaceX employees, contractors and other residents living near Starbase, the company's rocket campus in Texas, voted on Saturday to incorporate the area as a municipality, a move that gives SpaceX more control over the sprawling site's growth and some new powers over its launch operations.
Since 2017, SpaceX has quickly grown its coastal Boca Chica site in Texas to build and test prototypes of Starship, a 40-story rocket known for its powerful launches, explosive tests, and unique landings that have impressed fans.
However, these activities have raised concerns among environmentalists and local residents over noise, threats to wildlife, and potential damage to nearby nature reserves.
With the 171-foot (52-metre) tall Starship sitting atop a 232-foot (71-metre) tall Super Heavy booster that launches off Earth, the rocket system has had eight integrated test flights since 2023. Each launch has demonstrated an array of milestone achievements or explosive mishaps that embody SpaceX's risky test-to-failure development playbook.
On Tuesday, this 'lab-in-a-box', named SpaceLab, lifted off on board a SpaceX Falcon 9.
A document detailing the FAA's decision says SpaceX, as a condition for upping its launch activity, must perform an array of community duties to offset its environmental impact. That includes hosting quarterly beach cleanups, donating to environmental organizations, testing water nearby and minimizing launch site lighting to avoid disruption to nesting sea turtles.
While Tuesday's decision gives SpaceX a green light to move faster with Starship, the company has not said when it plans to test-launch the rocket again after back-to-back testing explosions.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
