The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday authorized SpaceX to conduct up to 25 launches of its Starship vehicle annually from Starbase in Texas. The decision raises the number of launches permitted from the South Texas facility by five times the previous limit.
The FAA released its final Environmental Assessment regarding the increase in operations near Brownsville. The assessment evaluated SpaceX's request for the higher launch cadence for its Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle, alongside permission for up to 25 landings each of the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage at the site.
The assessment concluded with a Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Record of Decision (ROD). The agency determined the increased operations would not result in environmental effects requiring a more extensive Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
This finding follows a draft EA issued by the FAA in November that also supported the higher flight rate. The FAA decision comes with a list of conditions, including requirements for managing wastewater from launch systems.
The Starship system is designed by SpaceX founder Elon Musk to be fully and rapidly reusable, with the goal of making deep space travel and potential settlement on Mars economically viable. The vehicle is the largest and most powerful rocket built to date.
Testing of the Starship system continues at Starbase. The vehicle has flown eight times in total, with two test flights occurring in 2025. These recent flights demonstrated successful performance of the Super Heavy booster, including return maneuvers, while the Starship upper stage has encountered issues during flight.
The approval for Starbase operations is one of several environmental reviews involving SpaceX launch activities at multiple locations. The FAA previously approved an increase in Falcon 9 launches from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base to 50 per year. Other ongoing reviews include increasing Falcon 9 launches at Cape Canaveral's SLC-40 and potential Starship launches from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A, as well as SLC-37 at Cape Canaveral, previously used by the Delta 4 rocket.
