17.02.2024
SpaceX officials want to launch and land Starship-Super Heavy rockets from a future site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and U.S. Air Force officials are studying potential environmental impacts.
SpaceX's proposed Starship site is Launch Complex 37 at the northern portion of the military installation. That's where United Launch Alliance sends up its Delta IV rockets, but the program is retiring and the last rocket should launch sometime this year.
The alternative Starship site is a proposed new complex, which would be constructed on undeveloped property north of LC-37. This would become Launch Complex 50.
In early March, the Air Force will conduct a trio of open houses — in Cocoa, Titusville and Cape Canaveral — to collect written comments on SpaceX's proposed actions and alternatives. The Air Force is the lead federal agency in the Starship environmental study, bolstered by cooperating agencies NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.
These public meetings will feature exhibit boards and "have a 'come and go' format with no formal presentation or opportunity for public testimony," according to spaceforcestarshipeis.com, the environmental study website.
SpaceX's two-stage Starship rocket — the most powerful in history — is the company's next-generation launch system designed to transport humans, cargo and payloads to Earth orbit, the moon, and Mars. The company has been testing it at a remote launch site near the southernmost tip of Texas.
Starship's lower booster stage is Super Heavy, outfitted with 33 Raptor engines. The booster lifts Starship, a 164-foot-tall spacecraft. Starship produces more thrust than the Saturn V rocket of the Apollo era and NASA's Space Launch System.
Starship's first test launch exploded shortly after liftoff last April from the company's Starbase operations area near Brownsville, Texas. A second test flight also exploded in midair in November, though that mission was considered more successful.
Brevard County public meetings about a possible Starlink launch site at the Cape will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at these locations:
- March 5: Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library, 308 Forrest Ave., Cocoa.
- March 6: Titusville Civic Center, 4220 S. Hopkins Ave., Titusville.
- March 7: Radisson Resort at the Port, 8701 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral.
In addition, a virtual public meeting featuring a narrated slideshow is scheduled at 6 p.m. March 12 at spaceforcestarshipeis.com. Air Force officials will accept public comments through March 22 at the website and by emailing contactus@spaceforcestarshipeis.com (use the subject line "Starship EIS").
A draft environmental impact study is scheduled for publication in December, with the final study due in September 2025.
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center, which abuts CCSFS, SpaceX proposes to expand its Roberts Road Operations Area by 100 acres, according to a NASA environmental impact study.
Quelle: Florida Today
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Update: 7.03.2024
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More SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy details revealed for proposed launches at Cape Canaveral
SpaceX officials hope a new Starship-Super Heavy launch complex becomes operational by 2026 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, pending environmental approval.
First, the Air Force is preparing a Starship environmental impact statement alongside NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard studying the mega-rocket tandem, which may someday transport astronauts and large-scale payloads to the moon and Mars.
SpaceX's preferred Starship site: Launch Complex 37, where United Launch Alliance sends the retiring Delta IV rockets into orbit. ULA's final Delta may launch this spring, and SpaceX would "modify, reuse or demolish" the existing infrastructure to accommodate Starship operations.
SpaceX's alternative: build a future Starship complex on undeveloped land. Dubbed Launch Complex 50, crews would construct this facility within a 120-acre zone north of LC-37 accessed by Samuel E. Phillips Parkway. A portion of the roadway would be rerouted westward.
Under either option, Samuel E. Phillips Parkway would be widened by 60 feet heading north to handle large-scale traffic.
Kontnik noted Blue Origin also plans to start launching massive New Glenn rockets "in that same sort of energy category" as the 397-foot-tall Starship-Super Heavy rocket combos.
"We're going to see both of those ramp up, if we're going to ever colonize Mars. So I think that we need to be looking both at the cumulative impacts right now, and also looking out into the future," Kontnik said, standing in the library meeting room.
"I just want to know that the EIS is looking honestly and seriously at all of that future — so that your children and mine don't say, 'Dammit, I wish Dad had done a better job at this and really looked at what he was leaving us,' " he said.
Two more Starship public meetings are scheduled this week from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Titusville and Cape Canaveral:
- Wednesday: Titusville Civic Center, 4220 S. Hopkins Ave., Titusville.
- Thursday: Radisson Resort at the Port, 8701 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral.
In addition, a virtual public meeting featuring a narrated slideshow takes place at 6 p.m. March 12 at spaceforcestarshipeis.com.
Air Force officials are accepting public comments through March 22 at the website and by emailing contactus@spaceforcestarshipeis.com (use the subject line "Starship EIS"). Written comments can also be mailed by March 22 to CCSFS Starship EIS c/o Jacobs, 5401 W. Kennedy Blvd. #300, Tampa, FL 33609.
Tuesday's Cocoa open house featured exhibit boards, experts from various agencies who answered questions, and two tables with public-comment forms and pens for attendees. No formal presentations will occur during the meetings.
"When we take comments from the public, it's not just folks who are visiting, or maybe folks who live beachside or inland or wherever. It can be anyone. It can be a resident. It could be a teacher. It could be a researcher," said Emre Kelly, Space Launch Delta media operations chief.
"It could be someone with a vested interest or expertise — which is why it's important to get as many public comments as possible. Because then, the draft environmental impact statement will have as much of that important information as possible," Kelly said.
A draft environmental impact statement is scheduled for publication in December, accompanied by a public hearing. The final statement is due by summer 2025.
Coast Guard personnel displayed a map Tuesday showing a large potential offshore Super Heavy landing zone. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets routinely land atop drone ships during the Cape's frequent Starlink broadband satellite missions, the last of which lifted off Monday night.
U.S. Coast Guard personnel displayed this posterboard showing a large potential offshore Super Heavy landing zone during Tuesday's SpaceX Starship open house at the CatherineSchweinsberg Rood Central Library in Cocoa.
"We are thrilled that SpaceX is beginning the process to launch Starship from Florida," Space Florida President and CEO Rob Long said in an email.
"As one of our partners, we have worked with SpaceX on common use infrastructure enhancements to benefit our space transportation ecosystem. These investments underscore our commitment to expanding optionality and long-term sustainable growth for the aerospace industry," Long said.
"We look forward to a future with SpaceX building, launching, recovering, and refurbishing and relaunching — all from here in Florida," he said.
Quelle: Florida Today