Space & Tech
October 14 deadline to comment on Cape Canaveral Starship review
The FAA is seeking input on proposed SLC-37 operations, including airspace closures and offshore contingency landings. Here is what the review covers and how to comment.
Brevard residents have until October 14 to comment on the scope of a new federal environmental review of SpaceX’s proposed Starship-Super Heavy operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The review concerns Space Launch Complex 37, where SpaceX is developing infrastructure for the rocket system’s launches and landings.
The Federal Aviation Administration opened the comment period September 29. Its supplemental environmental impact statement will add analysis to an earlier Air Force review. At this stage, the agency is asking what impacts, alternatives and relevant studies it should consider; a draft of the supplemental statement will be released for a separate public review later.
The proposal covers up to 76 launches and 152 landings a year. The landing total combines up to 76 Super Heavy booster landings and 76 Starship vehicle landings, including returns to the launch site and ocean landings. Those figures describe the proposed annual limits, not a schedule of announced flights.
The additional review extends beyond temporary airspace closures. The FAA’s notice also identifies an offshore contingency landing area and a range of possible paths for vehicles returning to the launch site among matters not analyzed in the earlier review. The contingency area would begin at least one nautical mile offshore and extend as far as 50 miles north of Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A and 50 miles south of SLC-37.
That offshore area helps explain why the notice mentions Kennedy Space Center even though this licensing proposal is for SLC-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The FAA says the same contingency area was analyzed in its separate 2026 environmental impact statement for Starship at Kennedy’s pad 39A.
To submit a scoping comment online, go to regulations.gov, search for docket FAA-2026-10792 and follow the submission instructions. Comments should identify that docket number. The notice also permits mail addressed to Ms. Eva Long, FAA Environmental Protection Specialist, c/o ICF, 1902 Reston Metro Plaza, Reston, VA 20190. The stated deadline is October 14, 2026.
The FAA asks for comments about alternatives or impacts, along with relevant information, studies or analysis. It says electronic submissions do not also need a paper copy. Comments are posted online without changes, including personal information supplied by the commenter; the agency cannot guarantee that identifying details will be withheld.
Construction work and permission to launch are separate steps. The Air Force’s earlier decision allowed certain construction and prelaunch work, with launch and landing operations pending additional FAA analysis and a follow-on Air Force decision. SpaceX still must obtain an FAA vehicle-operator license modification before conducting the commercial operations associated with SLC-37. The supplemental review will compare the proposal with a no-action alternative under which the FAA would not issue that modification or the associated airspace closures.