Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its 475th Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday, carrying another batch of Starlink satellites into space. The workhorse is now the most-launched American orbital rocket in history, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
SpaceX is aiming to more than double the number of Falcon launches from Cape Canaveral, from 50 to 120 per year. To do so, the company has asked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to amend its license to allow it to build a new launch pad for the first stage of its booster rocket.
That could mean an average of one launch every three days from that pad alone, the Indian River Lagoon Roundtable wrote in a recent letter to the FAA. The local environmental group is one of several raising concerns about SpaceX’s proposal.
In response to SpaceX’s request for a license change, the FAA is assessing the emissions produced by Falcon 9 rockets during launch and booster landing. In March, the agency released a draft environmental assessment that concluded that the increased number of Falcon launches would not have a significant impact on wildlife or habitat at Cape Canaveral.
But those environmentalists disagree. In letters sent to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is accepting public comments on SpaceX’s proposal through Thursday, the advocacy groups highlighted a number of potentially harmful impacts, Florida Today reported.
The Indian River Lagoon Roundtable and the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) have warned that 120 launches a year could pollute water, air and soil. Because these contaminants bioaccumulate in fish, it “could render the fish inedible and therefore unmarketable to fishermen,” the SAFMC wrote.
Audubon Florida told the FAA that the launch activity could reduce the potential for planned fire management. Many plant and animal species at Cape Canaveral are adapted to fire, as the area has one of the highest lightning strike rates in all of North America. Over the past decade, controlled burns have played a critical role in preserving and enhancing the habitat of endangered species such as the scrub jay, a songbird species that Audubon Florida specifically mentioned in its letter.
The FAA plans to include these considerations in its final environmental assessment. But the draft assessment states that hazardous materials and solid waste generated by SpaceX will be disposed of in accordance with all federal, state and local regulations, including those mandated by the Cape Canaveral Space Station.
Falcon launches have become a regular occurrence in the Sunshine State. Last year, Florida’s Space Coast, which includes both Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center, hosted a record 93 launches, most of them by SpaceX.
In addition to increasing the Falcon launch schedule, SpaceX plans to invest at least $1.8 billion to bring Starship to Florida by 2030, according to a February statement from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. The heavy-lift rocket currently launches from the company’s headquarters in Boca Chica, Texas.
Over the past year, environmental groups have been scrutinizing SpaceX’s impact on Boca Chica, citing pollution, habitat destruction, wildlife threats and other concerns. “Experimental activity of this magnitude has no place in South Texas, where rare and endangered plants and animals struggle to survive,” wildlife advocates wrote about Boca Chica last October.
Some Floridians are understandably concerned that Starship will exacerbate these problems in their state. SpaceX is developing two potential launch sites for the heavy rocket in Florida: one at Kennedy Space Center and the other at Cape Canaveral, Reuters reported in March.
During a virtual public hearing at the Federal Aviation Administration on May 8, clean water activist Tony Schifalo of Titusville, Fla., said, “I don’t really have a problem with the Falcon 9. But I do have concerns when Elon Musk wants to bring Starship out of Texas,” Florida Today reported.
Schifalo pointed to increased emissions and potential industrial wastewater discharges threatening the Indian River Lagoon, Florida Today reported. The lagoon is already facing changes in water flow patterns, habitat loss, water and sediment quality degradation, and loss of native species, according to the Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory.
Gizmodo reached out to the FAA and SpaceX for comment. The FAA referred to its draft environmental assessment and a transcript of a public meeting from May 8. SpaceX had not responded by the time of publication.
As Cape Canaveral becomes an increasingly important hub for the country’s rapidly growing space economy makes it likely that environmentalists will push for a more thorough study of the industry’s environmental impact.
