On Friday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a request from SpaceX to increase the frequency of Starship rocket launches in Texas fivefold, to 25 per year. Together with the Florida site, this will amount to 69 annual Starship launches, which is just a drop in the bucket for Elon Musk’s plans to colonize Mars. But we have to start somewhere, and the FAA intends to publicly discuss this request.
Image source: SpaceX
SpaceX currently has regulatory approval for 5 annual Starship launches from a site in Boca Chica, Texas. She is also allowed to make 10 landings of the Starship and 5 controlled descents of the Super Heavy booster. According to the company’s new request, it would like to launch up to 25 rockets and spacecraft each year from the Texas site and carry out 25 landings of the vehicle and booster each year.
In Florida, where SpaceX does not yet launch Starship or a booster, it is asking the FAA to allow 44 launches per year. Blue Origin and ULA, which is close to the sale, spoke out sharply against these plans. Competitors say Starship launches in relatively densely populated Florida pose risks to infrastructure and citizens. But even this is nothing compared to Musk’s plans to launch at least 500 Starships every year, which will be needed to colonize Mars.
In the meantime, SpaceX is preparing the ship and booster for the fifth test launch. The rocket is gradually being improved and is approaching trouble-free launches. The FAA confirmed that Starship and Super Heavy are being upgraded and this is also subject to discussion, along with a solution to the issue of increasing the frequency of launches from a particular site.