The Federal Aviation Administration will study a SpaceX request to fly up to 456 Starship launches a year from Starbase, Texas. The agency’s notice, published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, October 14, says it will prepare an environmental impact statement before it decides. SpaceX is approved today for 25 launches and 50 landings a year.
What SpaceX is asking for
The study covers two stages. Phase 1 is up to 100 launches and 200 landings a year, on any day and at any hour. Phase 2, which could come within several years, is up to 456 launches and 912 landings a year, with launches only Monday through Friday. That is more than 18 times today’s limit and close to two launches every weekday. The request also covers more places for Starship and its Super Heavy booster to land or be discarded. The FAA says the only reasonable alternative it sees is no action, because Boca Chica already has the needed infrastructure.
How to weigh in
Written comments are due November 30 on regulations.gov under docket FAA-2026-12808. The FAA has set three public scoping meetings. Two are in person: Tuesday, November 17 in Brownsville and Thursday, November 19 in Port Isabel, each with an afternoon and an evening session. The third is online on Wednesday, November 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Central. The review is expected to look at effects on air, wildlife, coastal resources, water, noise and air traffic.
What happens next
The FAA will put a draft statement out for public comment later and has not said when. We have not seen a SpaceX statement on the filing. Musk has said the next flight, Flight 15, is hopefully four to six weeks away, which we covered in Musk: Starship Flight 15 Will Try to Catch Its Upper Stage.
Our take: this is the start of a study, not an approval. SpaceX has asked for the ceiling, and the FAA has agreed only to examine it. The numbers show how big the ambition is: a rocket that flies a few times a year would fly nearly every weekday. The public meetings and the comment period are the first real test of how nearby communities and agencies respond.
