FAA Opens Environmental Review of SpaceX's Bid for Near-Daily Starship Flights

The Federal Aviation Administration has formally started an environmental review of a SpaceX proposal that would allow Starship to launch almost every day from its Starbase site in South Texas. The plan would permit up to 456 launches and 912 landings per year — roughly eighteen times the current authorization of 25 launches and 50 landings, an approval granted in May 2025. The notice of intent is scheduled to appear in the Federal Register on Wednesday.

Under the two-phase proposal, Phase 1 would raise the limit to 100 launches and 200 landings annually, with flights allowed on any day and at any hour. Phase 2, which the agency says could be reached within a few years, would push the cap to the full 456 launches, still around the clock but restricted to weekdays. The FAA noted that 912 landings represents the absolute ceiling for the Texas facility regardless of where a mission originates, and that both Starship and its Super Heavy booster could return either at the pad or in the Gulf of Mexico and open ocean.

A draft environmental impact statement will be released for public feedback at a later, unspecified date. Written comments are due November 30 via regulations.gov under docket FAA-2026-12808. The FAA has also scheduled in-person scoping meetings for November 17 in Brownsville and November 19 in Port Isabel, along with a virtual session on November 18. The assessment will cover air quality, wildlife, coastal resources, water, noise and aviation. Any launch cadence beyond this proposal would require a separate review.

The proposed figures stand in sharp contrast to Starbase’s actual track record. Starship has flown from Texas three times this year, including Flight 14 on September 28 — the first orbital flight, which deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites. Bloomberg reported that the site has never exceeded five launches in a single calendar year. Separately, in February the FAA approved up to 44 Starship launches annually from Launch Complex 39A in Florida, meaning Phase 1 in Texas alone would more than double that allowance.

Elon Musk has suggested Starship could eventually fly more than once per hour within less than a decade. The more immediate goal is Flight 15, which Musk said on October 10 is hopefully four to six weeks away and will attempt to catch the ship with the tower. That mission — and every Starbase launch for the duration of the new review — would still operate under the existing 25-launch limit. As of mid-morning Pacific time on Tuesday, SpaceX had not posted about the filing on its own account.