50 launches a year from the Cape? You have until Friday to tell the FAA

Blue Origin wants to launch its New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral up to 50 times a year, more than four times the 12 it is allowed now. The public has until Friday, Oct. 30, to comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration released a draft environmental assessment of the plan on Sept. 29. It would change Blue Origin’s launch license, No. VOL 24-133, for Space Launch Complex 36 to allow:

• up to 50 launches a year

• up to 50 first-stage landings on a platform in the Atlantic, typically 300 to 500 nautical miles from the launch site

• up to 50 static-fire engine tests of the full rocket and 50 of the second stage

• recovery of the payload fairing, the nose cone that protects a satellite

The plan includes no new construction, according to the FAA’s Federal Register notice.

What you might hear

For its analysis, the FAA assumed half of all launches would happen at night, between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Each launch would sound the same as New Glenn launches do now; what changes is how often. According to the draft:

• Nighttime launches: in parts of Titusville, Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, late-night launches could wake an estimated 4% of people.

• Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach: launch noise there tops 85 decibels, a level the draft calls “likely to interfere with activities.” Noise loud enough to make conversation hard to follow would last up to 145 seconds per launch in communities near the Cape.

• Engine tests: static fires last 30 seconds or less. The pad’s flame trench points that noise away from neighborhoods, and it would not reach 85 decibels off base, the draft says.

• Sonic booms: booms over 1 pound per square foot, which the FAA compares to a clap of thunder, would happen only over the ocean. Landing platforms would be at least 37 miles from land.

• Property damage: the chance of damage claims would stay low. Launches would keep producing noise tied to about a 1-in-1,000 chance of damage claims in Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach and parts of Merritt Island and Cocoa.

Averaged over a year, launch and engine-test noise outside the base would stay below 60 decibels on the measure the FAA uses for land-use compatibility, under the 65-decibel level where it begins to flag incompatible uses.

Wildlife and the bigger picture

The Department of the Air Force, which oversees the Space Force, did the endangered-species review. It found the plan “may affect and is likely to adversely affect” the Florida scrub-jay, the Eastern indigo snake and five sea turtle species. The main concern for the scrub-jay and snake is being hit by vehicles on roads; for the turtles, it is artificial light.

The draft did not study visual effects, including light, in detail. It says lighting would be “consistent with the existing visual landscape.”

Launches could close about a dozen air routes near the Cape and farther out over the Atlantic, and the Coast Guard would issue a notice to mariners before operations.

For context, the draft says the Eastern Range already handles more than 100 launches a year, and that Space Launch Delta 45 is “planning towards” about 500 launches a year by 2030.

Finishing the environmental review does not guarantee Blue Origin will get the license change, the FAA says. After the comment period closes, the FAA will issue a finding of no significant impact, a finding with mitigation commitments, or a notice that it will prepare a full environmental impact statement. As of Sunday, 10 comments had been posted on the federal docket. 321 Daily did not contact Blue Origin or the FAA for this story.

How to comment (deadline Friday, Oct. 30)

• Online: go to regulations.gov and search for docket FAA-2026-9841.

• By mail, postmarked by Oct. 30: Amy Hanson, c/o ICF, FAA Environmental Protection Specialist, Blue Origin SLC-36 EA, 1902 Reston Metro Plaza, Reston, VA 20190.

• Read the draft: faa.gov/space/stakeholderengagement/blue-origin-new-glenn

• Before you submit: the FAA warns that your entire comment, including your name, address and other personal information, may be made public.

• What counts most: the FAA says it will respond to “substantive” comments, which it defines as ones that identify potential alternatives, information and analyses relevant to the plan.