![]() Instead, under NEPA, a lesser analysis, known as a programmatic environmental assessment (PEA) can be filed, and it can be conducted by commercial entities-even ones associated with the rocket’s owner. The FAA is not required to receive a full EIS before approving a launch. The first and perhaps biggest problem involved who was doing the environmental assessment and how it was conducted. What Went Wrong at Boca ChicaĪll of this stands in stark contrast with the way things unfolded at Boca Chica both leading up to and during the Starship launch. “And this monitoring continues with the Artemis program.” NASA also ensures that cultural resources are not affected by any launch or construction activities-avoiding the kind of complaints lodged by the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas in the lawsuit against the FAA. “Kennedy conducted pre- and post-launch ecological monitoring for the 30 years of the shuttle program,” says Dankert. When it comes to actual launches, environmental oversight goes well beyond the liftoff alone. Still, the work “must comply with NEPA and all applicable environmental laws and regulations,” Dankert says. Environmental oversight is conducted during construction of rockets, launch pads, buildings, and other infrastructure, as well as during routine maintenance, though in these cases, a full EIS is not typically required. Such standards are not limited to launches. “Years of design, development, and testing-including ground tests, simulations, and flight tests-occur before a rocket is certified for launch operations.” The fact that the two SpaceX rockets underwent that kind of vetting suggests the company would know what a robust environmental assessment looks like. “All new rockets which are proposed to launch from Kennedy require significant safety and environmental analysis prior to launch,” says Don Dankert, KSC’s Spaceport Integration Environmental Planning Lead. The safeguards responsible for NASA’s impressive environmental record begin whenever a new rocket-whether the venerable Saturn 5, the just-developed Space Launch System, or SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy-is first under design and construction. Environmental groups have recently criticized some proposals floated by the commercial space sector and NASA to build a spaceport on Kennedy Space Center land that would send rockets flying over the Merritt Island Preserve instead of straight out over the ocean-but those projects are nowhere near fruition and the environmental sector is mounting stiff opposition. The rest encompasses the Merritt Island preserve and the Canaveral National Seashore-both of which have remained untouched by generations of NASA launches. The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) measures 140,000 square acres, but just 5,500 of them have been developed for space operations. ![]() ![]() What SpaceX isn’t doing, NASA assuredly does-and it isn’t easy. But if they’re going to move forward, they certainly need to do a full analysis and make sure they’re imposing sufficient mitigation, which we don’t believe they’re doing.” Learning from NASA “So perhaps this isn’t the right place to be blowing up these rockets. “This is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the country,” says Margolis. The reason lies partly in the engineering-the Starship launch pad was simply not built robustly enough to withstand the blast of the first stage’s 33 engines-and, according to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, partly bureaucratic: the lawsuit claims neither the FAA nor anyone else ever conducted the kind of full environmental impact study necessary to protect Boca Chica before the launch took place. Sixty years and thousands of launches-including 135 of the space shuttle alone and 18 of the massive Saturn 5 rocket-produced nothing like the devastation wrought on the Boca Chica area by just one Starship launch. The SpaceX mess stands in sharp contrast to NASA, which has long shared its Kennedy Space Center home with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, a preserve that is home to more than 1,500 species of plants and animals. Collaborating with the FAA will give SpaceX more influence over the defense strategy. ![]() On May 22, SpaceX’s request to join the FAA as a co-defendant in the lawsuit was granted by a federal judge-a standard move by a company whose own permit to fly is in jeopardy by a lawsuit. Notwithstanding, on May 18, SpaceX rolled another Starship out to the pad for engine tests preparatory to a launch that will come only after the current lawsuit is resolved. ![]() The heat and the light and the noise was way more than I think they had anticipated from this launch.” (“The FAA does not comment on ongoing litigation matters,” the agency said in an email to TIME.) “We’re seeking to have it sent back to the agency for a full-blown, full-out analysis,” says Jared Margolis, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. ![]()
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