SpaceX Starship successfully launches from Texas base
SpaceX’s unmanned spacecraft, Starship, has successfully launched into space after three previous rocket launch attempts.
SpaceX officials hope to launch and land their massive, 492-foot-tall Starship Super Heavy rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center up to 44 times a year in the near future.
But Susan Palma, a Titusville resident for 40 years, worries that more development on the Cape could further disrupt the natural water flows and salinity of the endangered Indian River Lagoon. She attended an environmental meeting on Starship’s potential impacts on Wednesday with a document warning of the risks to toxic materials and fauna from air, light and noise pollution.
“I moved to this river in 2011, and within three years, my riverbank went from brackish shore to dead riverbank. It’s still dead. There’s no grass, no vegetation. There are no manatees anymore,” Palma said.
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“It’s dead here. It’s brown and smelly. It’s murky and dirty. It’s been like this for 10 years. I’m actually thinking about moving out. If they start expanding the space center and they don’t pay attention to the environmental impact, I probably will move out,” she said.
On Wednesday, the Radisson Resort at the port of Cape Canaveral hosted two public seminars on the environmental impacts of Starship Super Heavy as the Federal Aviation Administration gathers input on SpaceX’s plans to bring the giant rocket system to launch pad 39A.
Experts at the event answered questions one-on-one at eight stations fixed on poster boards around the conference room. The FAA is the lead agency for the environmental impact assessment. Other participating federal agencies were NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the Coast Guard, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.
On Thursday, the FAA will hold a similar Starship Super Heavy public meeting to gather input from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Devas Conference Facility in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
The virtual meeting will be held on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. More information:
- Zoom URL: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89402979916
- Zoom Meeting ID: 894 0297 9916
- Optional phone number: 833-928-4608, 833-928-4609, or 833-928-4610.
The virtual meeting will feature “a captioned, self-running presentation explaining the scoping meeting objectives, project timeline, opportunities for public participation, an overview of proposed actions and alternatives, and an overview of the Environmental Resource Area,” according to the FAA report.
In addition to the launch, SpaceX proposes landing the Super Heavy booster and Starship on launch pad 39A and a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, deploying the Super Heavy booster in the Atlantic Ocean at least five nautical miles offshore, and deploying Starship in the open ocean between latitudes 55 degrees south and 55 degrees north.
According to an FAA fact sheet, SpaceX officials want to build a catch tower for Super Heavy on Pad 39A, as well as build on-site facilities for propellant production and storage, cooling towers, air separation units and release systems.
A 2019 environmental assessment by NASA for future operations of Starship Super Heavy found that the launch would not significantly impact the biological or physical environment at Launch Pad 39A.
SpaceX officials also hope to begin launching its Starship Super Heavy rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station by 2026. The Air Force is working with NASA, the FAA and the Coast Guard to prepare an environmental impact statement for Starship.
Last week, crews at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Turn Basin loaded part of the Starship launch tower onto a barge for transport to SpaceX Starbase in Brownsville, Texas.
Rockledge resident Brad Whitmore attended the open house Wednesday afternoon. He lives in a 105-year-old historic home just south of Cocoa Village and said vibrations from the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 in a southeastern orbit could have cracked the plaster on his ceilings and walls within the past year. He said others in his immediate neighborhood near the lagoon have expressed similar structural concerns.
“(Launch frequency) will continue to increase significantly, and we’ll see a transition primarily from Falcon 9 to larger rockets like Falcon Heavy, SLS, Starship and Blue Origin,” he said.
“The noise of the Falcon 9 ranges from ‘barely audible’ to ‘house shaking’ – windows vibrate and rattle, items on desks vibrate and move,” he said.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Command and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neal Neil is a space reporter for Florida Today. Contact Neil at contact addressTwitter/X: Rick Neal 1