SpaceX gets Air Force approval to launch and land Starship/Superheavy at Cape Canaveral
The Air Force announced late yesterday [pdf] that it will now allow SpaceX to launch its Starship/Superheavy rocket at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral in Florida (as shown on the map to the right) as many as 76 times per year, with twice that number of landings.
The DAF [Department of Air Force] decision authorizes SpaceX to use SLC-37 at CCSFS [Cape Canaveral Space Force Station] to support Starship-Super Heavy launch and landing operations, including the redevelopment of SLC-37 and the other infrastructure improvements required and analyzed in the FEIS [Final Environmental Impact Statement]. Under this ROD [record of decision], upon execution of the real property agreement and associated documentation, and as analyzed in the FEIS while adhering to the mitigation measures specified in Appendix A to this ROD, SpaceX is authorized to: (1) undertake construction activities necessary to re-develop SLC-37 and associated infrastructure for Starship Super Heavy operations; (2) conduct prelaunch operations, including the transportation of launch vehicle components and static fire tests; and (3) conduct up to 76 launches and 152 landings annually once a supplemental analysis of airspace impacts by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is completed. [emphasi mine]
The deal also requires SpaceX to do some road upgrades in order to transport the rocket from its Gigabay to the launch tower. The company immediately announced on X yesterday that it has already begun construction, and expects to have three pads in Florida before all is done.
The final environmental impact statement [pdf] was released on November 20, 2025, and concluded in more than 200 pages that there will be no significant impact from these launch operations, something that should be self-evident after more than three-quarters of century of rocketry at the Cape. The existence of the spaceport acts to protect wildlife, because it limits development across a wide area.
The report suggested that some turtle species and one mouse specie might “affected adversely”, but it it also appears that risk was considered minor and not enough to block development. To deal with this however the impact statement requires SpaceX to do a number of mitigation actions, similar to what it is required to do at Boca Chica.
One fact must be recognized, based on the red tape and delays experienced by SpaceX during the Biden administration. Had Kamala Harris and the cadre that ran the White House under Biden had been in office now, this approval would almost certainly have not happened, or if it did, it would have likely been delayed for a considerable amount of time, into next year at the earliest. It is certain that Trump is clearing the path to prevent red tape and the administrative state from slowing things down unnecessarily.
This announcement also strengthens the likelihood that SpaceX will do at least one launch of Starship/Superheavy from Florida in 2026. And if not then, by 2027 for sure.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The Air Force announced late yesterday [pdf] that it will now allow SpaceX to launch its Starship/Superheavy rocket at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral in Florida (as shown on the map to the right) as many as 76 times per year, with twice that number of landings.
The DAF [Department of Air Force] decision authorizes SpaceX to use SLC-37 at CCSFS [Cape Canaveral Space Force Station] to support Starship-Super Heavy launch and landing operations, including the redevelopment of SLC-37 and the other infrastructure improvements required and analyzed in the FEIS [Final Environmental Impact Statement]. Under this ROD [record of decision], upon execution of the real property agreement and associated documentation, and as analyzed in the FEIS while adhering to the mitigation measures specified in Appendix A to this ROD, SpaceX is authorized to: (1) undertake construction activities necessary to re-develop SLC-37 and associated infrastructure for Starship Super Heavy operations; (2) conduct prelaunch operations, including the transportation of launch vehicle components and static fire tests; and (3) conduct up to 76 launches and 152 landings annually once a supplemental analysis of airspace impacts by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is completed. [emphasi mine]
The deal also requires SpaceX to do some road upgrades in order to transport the rocket from its Gigabay to the launch tower. The company immediately announced on X yesterday that it has already begun construction, and expects to have three pads in Florida before all is done.
The final environmental impact statement [pdf] was released on November 20, 2025, and concluded in more than 200 pages that there will be no significant impact from these launch operations, something that should be self-evident after more than three-quarters of century of rocketry at the Cape. The existence of the spaceport acts to protect wildlife, because it limits development across a wide area.
The report suggested that some turtle species and one mouse specie might “affected adversely”, but it it also appears that risk was considered minor and not enough to block development. To deal with this however the impact statement requires SpaceX to do a number of mitigation actions, similar to what it is required to do at Boca Chica.
One fact must be recognized, based on the red tape and delays experienced by SpaceX during the Biden administration. Had Kamala Harris and the cadre that ran the White House under Biden had been in office now, this approval would almost certainly have not happened, or if it did, it would have likely been delayed for a considerable amount of time, into next year at the earliest. It is certain that Trump is clearing the path to prevent red tape and the administrative state from slowing things down unnecessarily.
This announcement also strengthens the likelihood that SpaceX will do at least one launch of Starship/Superheavy from Florida in 2026. And if not then, by 2027 for sure.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The perils of depending on having the “right” people in office should not be understated. When the “wrong” people eventually get in it can get ugly.
To be sure, this FEIS only applies to the launch facilities at SLC-37 at CCSFS — not the one being built right now at LC-39A at KSC. ( I know Mr. Zimmerman knows this, but it may not be clear to all of the readers here.) Even if the lease agreement is excited today and were SpaceX to begin ground work at their usual insane tempo tomorrow, I just can’t see (given the timeline we have seen on Pad 2 at Boca Chica) how the pads and ground systems at SLC-37 and related infrastructure upgrades would be ready before the end of 2026.
But LC-39A is another story. They’re pretty far along there now. I wouldn’t be shocked to see that ready by sometime this summer. So, it’s certainly not impossible that SpaceX could launch a Starship from *there* next year, if they are really determined to do so.
(Note that the FAA is doing its own EIS for LC-39A, and it is not complete yet, but it looks like it will be soon.
https://www.faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement/spacex_starship_ksc
Either way it has not stopped SpaceX from proceeding full throttle with all of the construction work there!)
john hare,
What you say has been true through all of human history. Exemplars abound ranging from Caligula and Nero up through Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and Mao. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
Having recently chucked out a legion of malefactors, our job is now to see that they never do get back in. Calling them to account for their very real crimes against the citizenry and the Republic constitutes a good start and is already underway. But more needs to be done. A new census that distinguishes citizens from non-citizens and a reallocation of House seats to states based on citizen population only is a minimum requirement. There also needs to be a federal corps of election monitors established and deployed to areas in which Democratic election lawlessness has been endemic. The voter rolls of all states must be purged of non-residents and the dead. Interstate comparisons need to be made to insure no voter is simultaneously registered in two or more locations.
Richard M,
The concrete never sets on Elon Musk’s empire. Let the forms and rebar arise and the parade of ready-mix trucks begin!
Unfortunately, allocation of House seats does not depend on citizenship:
Fourteenth Amendment, Section 2 (current governing standard)
“Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.”
So an amendment will be needed.
john hare: The real peril is not paying attention to who you are voting for, something Americans have been sadly guilty of now for about five decades, at a minimum. Worse, it is believing that your problems can be solved by anyone in government. This also Americans have been sadly guilty of, since WWII.
Americans need to choose people who want to eliminate that government, which will almost certainly be outsiders like Trump, JD Vance, and Curtis Sliwa in New York. They are free to do so, but still seem reluctant in too many cases.
Andi,
There are a number of amendments needed including one to fix the number of SCOTUS Justices at nine. It will not be easy to get any constitutional amendments approved, but the process has to be started.
“Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.”
I’d be thinking that when that was written the persons in the State were assumed to be citizens.
Mike Borgelt,
That would be close to correct. The US was a new nation that needed more population and it was only minimally picky about immigration for a long time. The Naturalization Act of 1790 established a de jure preference for “white” immigrants and a minimum 5-year residency requirement before naturalization eligibility was established in 1802. Through most of the 19th century immigration to the US was not very tightly controlled. Ellis Island was established as the East Coast port of entry for prospective immigrants in 1892. Its main purpose was to screen for disease. About 20% of arrivals were interned there, then sent back to their countries of origin – mostly for medical reasons.
And that was–what?–150 million people ago?