CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — U.S. Air Force officials are looking at the potential environmental impacts associated with SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy operations at the Cape Canaveral.
Local space analyst Ken Kremer said a preliminary environmental report released in recent weeks identifies Space Launch Complex 37 as the “most acceptable” option for SpaceX’s Starship program.
“And in that report, they claimed that there wouldn’t be an excessive environmental impact,” said Kremer.
The current proposal would allow SpaceX to reconstruct and upgrade existing infrastructure at SLC-37 to support up to 76 Starship/Super Heavy launches and landings annually.
An alternative plan would involve building brand-new launch infrastructure at SLC-50, an undeveloped site nearby.
“I like rockets a lot but that is a lot of rockets and it’s a lot of sonic booms and that could be very disruptive to the local population, but also very importantly to airplanes coming into the area because it has to be clear. So there we have to have massive coordination with all the airliners and the cruise liners and things like that,” Kremer said.
The Starship system — designed for deep space missions and planetary transport — has seen multiple explosive test flights.
Just last month, a Starship vehicle preparing for its 10th test flight experienced an anomaly while on a test stand in Texas.
The next public meeting will be held Thursday at the Dr. Joe Lee Smith Recreation Center in Cocoa. The meeting will be held from 4 p.m.-7 p.m.
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