Elon Musk is currently expecting Starship to have its next orbital launch attempt in mid-March 2024.
There are reports of several possible new SpaceX launch facilities. There could be a new SLC-50 or SLC-49 instead of or including the SLC-37 facility.
The US Department of the Air Force is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) regarding Starship launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The review is required by the National Environmental Policy Act for any major action, like construction of a new launch complex.
The study would examine the environmental impacts of converting Space Launch Complex (SLC) 37 at Cape Canaveral into a Starship launch complex.
The new possible launch facilities are all around Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The Space Force Starship EIS site describes the proposals for new launch facilities.
SLC-37 was built in the 1960s for the Saturn 1 and 1B rockets, was later converted by Boeing to host launches of the Delta 4. Delta 4 will soon retire, with the final Delta 4 Heavy launch scheduled for as soon as March. There are no plans by United Launch Alliance to continue use of the site by its new Vulcan rocket, which launches from nearby SLC-41.
The EIS will examine one alternative option, which involves building a new launch complex designated SLC-50 for Starship. That would be located between SLC-37 and the next pad to the north, SLC-40, used by SpaceX’s Falcon 9. As is typical with such environmental studies, the EIS will include a “no action” alternative where no Starship launch sites are built at either location.
There is little property available elsewhere at Cape Canaveral for additional launch sites. “We’ve reallocated all of our launch pads,” said Space Force Col. Shannon DaSilva, deputy director of operations for Space Systems Command, during a presentation at the annual meeting of the Global Spaceport Alliance Jan. 29. “We don’t have much more land to give.”
SpaceX currently has one Starship launch pad at its Starbase site in South Texas, and Elon Musk said at a January event that the company plans to build a second launch pad there.
In December 2021, KSC announced it was preparing to start an environmental review to construct a Starship launch complex at a location at the northern end of KSC property designated LC-49. The SLC-49 study was put on hold and is not being actively pursued.
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The local impact of daily steady Starship launches is why it was assumed that this phase would be mostly with ocean platforms. SpaceX likely decided the old oil platform route wouldn’t cut it and they didn’t want to invest at the level required to build bespoke platforms yet at least before the designs were proven on land. DOD could step in and fund preliminary work to speed this up.
If the Air Force or Space Force intends to have 100s of these starship launch sites all over the world, an EIS is already overdue. Massive rockets are not like large planes, and contribute significant noise, pollution, and environmental impacts every time they launch, that planes don’t, even with their long runways.
Another suggestion: Consider Puerto Rico. It’s U.S. territory, relatively cheap land, in need of new business ventures since its near bankruptcy and excessive debt. It’s also accessible by ship, which is an easier transport system than roads for massive oversized parts of starships and/or complete starships could just land there instead. The same or better near equatorial advantages apply.
An EIS is site specific; you can’t conduct one until you have a proposed location.
I had my annual bloodwork done recently and my doctor told me I have a significant deficiency of superheavy booster launches and second stage recoveries. The treatment regiment isn’t too bad but it takes months.
Don’t we all!