SpaceX’s ambitious plans to launch its Starship mega-rocket up to 44 times a year from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center are causing a stir among some of its competitors. Late last month, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance filed comments calling on regulators to ensure minimal disruptions to other launch providers in the area, with Blue Origin even suggesting limiting Starship operations to certain times – and giving other launch providers the right to first refusal for conflicting launches.
But SpaceX may have even more ambitious plans for a second launch pad right next door: Space Launch Complex (SLC)-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). During a series of public meetings in March, the public was invited to comment on plans to launch Starship from SLC-37 up to 76 times a year. That would mean SpaceX aims to launch its next-generation rocket up to 120 times a year within a six-mile area of the Florida coast.
The US Space Force is currently preparing the draft environmental assessment that will be released to the public this winter, and that document will include SpaceX’s final projected launch frequency. A Space Force representative emphasized to JS that launch cadence numbers could change from now to then. Such figures could be affected by the pace of Starship’s development in the coming months or even by the number of scrub jay nests discovered during the EA process. Scrub jays, a bird native to Florida, are listed as endangered on the endangered species list.
However, as of a few weeks ago, SpaceX’s competitors were still using the number 76 as a benchmark for the company’s plans, according to a person familiar with the talks. The company did not immediately return a request for comment.
Scaling up in Florida and Texas
SLC-37 is a historic launch pad at CCSFS, home to NASA’s Saturn rocket in the 1960s and, more recently, United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV series of rockets. The pad is now inactive after ULA flew the Delta IV Heavy for the last time in April. The Space Force announced in February that it was preparing to kick off what’s known as an environmental impact statement, a sweeping regulatory document that examines the environmental impacts of proposed activities related to Starship launches from that platform.
The Federal Aviation Administration is preparing a separate impact statement for SpaceX’s launch plans for Starships at Kennedy Space Center’s pad 39A. Both studies are intended to investigate the environmental impacts of Starship launches and landing operations, with the Super Heavy boosters returning to the launch site, similar to how SpaceX’s Falcon rockets operate.
The Space Force’s environmental impact statement for the SLC-37 also considers an alternative: having SpaceX build an entirely new launch pad currently named SLC-50. Either way, there would likely be significant construction, including flood ponds, fuel tanks, a containment tower – and well over 120 launches per year from both locations combined.
The two Florida launch pads would join an existing Starship launch tower at SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in southeast Texas, as well as a second tower currently under construction at the same location. In the near future, SpaceX could have four operational Starship launch sites.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has incredibly ambitious plans for Starship, which he sees as a key enabler for colonizing Mars and “expanding the light of consciousness” throughout the cosmos. Ultimately, he wants to launch Starship multiple times a day, with each launch delivering hundreds of tons of cargo to low Earth orbit or beyond. The company has a separate goal of expanding Starship production facilities to produce one Starship second stage per day.
Blue Origin, ULA push back
As part of the preparation process, the public is invited to comment on the scope of the plans before a draft environmental impact statement is published. While the public comments on SLC-37 have not yet been released, the comments on pad 39A at Kennedy were – and included strong statements from Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance about the plans there. Both companies expressed particular concern about the impact such a high number of flights would have on other launch providers with infrastructure at Kennedy and Cape Canaveral.
“Just one Starship launch site is likely to disrupt other launch operations in the area and cause significant environmental impacts, as discussed in detail below. The impact will certainly be amplified if it comes from two launch sites so close together.” ULA said in its commentary.
“For example, SpaceX plans to conduct up to 44 launches per year from the LC-39A. If SpaceX aims for a similar number at SLC-37, that would lead to nearly 100 launches per year – or one every three days,” the commentary continued.
Blue Origin, which plans to launch its New Glenn rocket from the LC-36 at the Cape Canaveral site, suggested a number of mitigating factors That made it clear that it views launch operations at both sites as a zero-sum game. This included a suggestion to require SpaceX (or the government) to indemnify third parties for losses caused by Starship operations – including commercial disruptions.
