The Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of the Air Force gave the green light for SpaceX to more than double its launch cadence from its workhorse launch pad in Florida and construct a new landing zone for its Falcon rocket boosters.
On Sept. 3, the FAA published documents supporting SpaceX’s proposal to launch up to 120 times using its Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It also gave the environmental thumbs up for SpaceX’s plan to construct a new landing zone adjacent to its launch pad.
The FAA issued a 21-page document called a Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact and Record of Decision (FONSI/ROD) along with its 122-page (not including appendices) Final Environmental Assessment (EA). These came after months of analysis and more than 4,200 public comments were evaluated.
The assessment was done in order to comply with a federal law called the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) along with FAA Order 1050.1F, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures.
“After reviewing and analyzing this EA, including all available data and information on existing conditions and potential impacts, the FAA has determined that the modification of SpaceX’s license, as well as issuing a new license under 14 CFR (Cod of Federal Regulations) Part 450 along with potential future renewals and modifications to the license, to increase the annual number of Falcon 9 launches and the construction and operation of a Falcon 9 [landing zone] at SLC-40 would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment within the meaning of NEPA,” wrote Stacey Molinich Zee, manager of the Operations Support Branch within the FAA.
“Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not required, and the FAA is independently issuing this Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Record of Decision (ROD),” Zee added. “The FAA has made this determination in accordance with applicable environmental laws and FAA procedures.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has more “detailed and rigorous” regulatory requirements attached and is used in cases where “a proposed major federal action is determined to significantly affect the quality of the human environment.”
The DAF, NASA and the FAA are currently working through the EIS process when it comes to bringing SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket to Florida for static fires, launch and landings from both Launch Complex 39A and Space Launch Complex 37. Public comment regarding the LC-39A Starship proposal is open through Sept. 22.
On Sept. 3, the DAF also issued its own FONSI along with a Finding of No Practicable Alternative (FONPA). U.S. Air Force Col. Marcia Quigley, director of Space Force Mission Sustainment, said in her evaluation of the EA that SpaceX’s proposal for SLC-40 would not only not have a “significant effect on the quality of the human environment,” but also it “would support future U.S. Government and commercial missions which require or would benefit from a Falcon 9 vehicle.”
“The Proposed Action is needed to meet current and anticipated near-term future U.S. Government launch requirements for national security, space exploration, science, and the Assured Access to Space process of the National Security Space Launch program,” Quigley wrote.
“Public interests largely intersect with the government interests identified, including greater mission capability for space exploration, and advancing reliable and affordable access to space which in turn advances the scientific and national security benefits of the U.S. space program as a whole,” she added.
Approved, with caveats
The draft version of the EA was published for public review and comment back on March 14, 2025. That led to a virtual, public meeting on the proposal on May 8.
After months of analyzing the comments and providing a list of answers to the concerns raised from the public (as seen within Appendix E) the Final EA was ready for publication this week. However, it does come with some key conditions and mitigation measures for SpaceX.
Some of those include minimizing driving in off-road scenarios as much as possible to avoid injuring or killing eastern indigo snakes, allowing prescribed burns to take place in the areas around SLC-40 and minimizing year-round lighting to minimize the potential impacts on nesting and/or hatching sea turtles.
“An updated SLC-40 Light Management Plan incorporating the additional launch cadence, new facilities and LZ-X operations will be provided to SLD 45 Environmental and the Service for review prior to the increase in launch cadence and use of LZ-X,” the FONSI/ROD states. “A full review by the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)] will be completed within 30 days of receiving the updated Light Management Plan.”
SpaceX is also required to conduct various species monitoring for creatures like sea turtles, the Florida scrub-jay and the southeastern beach mouse. Part of that includes reporting any “dead, injured, or sick threatened or endangered species” to the USFWS.
With 24 miles of pristine beach, Canaveral National Seashore is prime nesting habitat for many threatened and endangered sea turtles. For the 2023 nesting season, 1,665 nests have been recorded. #WorldSeaTurtleDay #ESA50 🐢
Video by Joe Griffith / NPS pic.twitter.com/XjRAFumCoN
— US Department of the Interior (@Interior) June 16, 2023
SpaceX, the FAA and the U.S. Space Force are also required to meet annually with the USFWS between Jan. 1 and March 31 “to determine the current status of the Proposed Action and to discuss any anticipated changes to the Proposed Action. This will assist in planning and coordination for any necessary future reinitiations or amendments.”
Beyond reviewing the Lighting Management Plan, the Final EA also states the the FAA is still working with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in evaluating an update to documents that previously considered “up to 70 first-stage boosters landing on barges in the Atlantic Ocean, up to 70 fairing recovery attempts, and an additional 30 launches where the first stage and fairings would be expended.”
While the FAA noted that this work won’t be finished until “later in 2025,” it determined that plans proposed by SpaceX as evaluated by the Final EA wouldn’t violated the relevant section of the Endangered Species Act connected to that assessment and opted to proceed. The DAF also backed the FAA on this decision.
Additionally, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection also submitted the Draft EA published back in March to the Florida State Clearinghouse for review and stated in an email on April 25, 2025, that the State of Florida didn’t object to SpaceX’s proposal.
Kicking the launch cadence into overdrive
The announcement of a ramp up of launches comes in a year where SpaceX was already aiming for 170 flights with its Falcon rockets from its three launch pads combined across Florida and California.
The launch increase stated in multiple sections of both the Final EA as well as the FONSI/ROD describes going from 50 Falcon 9 rocket launches annually at SLC-40 up to a max of 120. However, SpaceX already received two previous clearances to exceed that 50-launch threshold.
“SpaceX submitted information to support up to 56 Falcon 9 operations in 2023 and up to 70 Falcon 9 operations in 2024 from Cape Canaveral SLC-40,” the FAA said in a statement to Spaceflight Now on Sept. 5. “In both cases, the FAA determined no additional environmental review was required and approved the increase.
“The increase in proposed operations conformed with the existing environmental documentation and the prior data and analysis remained valid.”
SpaceX went on to launch 55 times from SLC-40 in 2023, 62 times from SLC-40 in 2024 and as of Sept. 11, 2025, it’s performed 58 launches from that pad this year.
In addition to a maximum of 120 launches and 40 static fire tests that SpaceX would perform annually, the Proposed Action also included the construction of a new landing zone at SLC-40. It would consist of a 280-foot diameter concrete pad with a 60-foot-wide gravel apron.
The total diameter for this new landing zone would be roughly 400 feet. Roughly two acres of Florida scrub-jay and about seven acres of a combination of grassy areas, existing roads and infrastructure would be impacted by the construction of this new landing site.
Three alternate plans for a pair of landing zones at SLC-40 were ultimately rejected because of adverse environment impacts.
“Concepts 1 and 2 were determined to have substantial effects to Florida scrub-jay and southeastern beach mouse habitat,” the FAA wrote. Concept 3 was sited predominantly in wetlands and would have flight safety concerns over potential impacts to the SLC-40 hangar.”
The reason SpaceX wants this new landing zone is because Space Launch Delta 45 does not intend to renew SpaceX’s license to use Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) and Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2) at the site formerly used as Launch Complex 13 after it expires on Dec. 31, 2025. Instead LC-13 will be used jointly by Vaya Space and Phantom Space, with the former aiming for its first launch in 2028.
“SLD 45 has implemented a policy that phases out dedicated LZs to maximize opportunities for the number of commercial launch service providers, maximize the launch capacity of the Eastern Range, and minimize impacts that commercial launch service providers create for other users or government programs during operations, the Final EA states. “SLD 45 policy now requires commercial launch service providers to conduct landing operations at their existing launch sites.”
SpaceX would be allowed no more than 34 landings at its proposed landing zone at SLC-40 from rockets that launch from that site.
Meanwhile, in a separate environmental evaluation being conducted by NASA, the space agency is analyzing the creation of up to two landing pads at LC-39A to accommodate both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches and landings.
In a footnote of the Final EA, the FAA noted that there may be times where a booster launched from LC-39A needs to land at the landing zone located at SLC-40.
“There is a potential for the two LC-39A LZs to be constructed separately after the SLC-40 LZ is in operation,” the FAA wrote. “Therefore, as a contingency, a Falcon Heavy side core could land at the SLC-40 LZ due to a safety reason causing inability of the side core to land at LC-39A (e.g., physical damage at LC-39A).
“If that contingency were to be necessary, the effects of a Falcon Heavy side core landing would be consistent with the scope and environmental analysis of this EA as confirmed by the 2014 and 2017 DAF EAs.”
As part of an EA published in 2020, the FAA analyzed up to 54 landings across both LZ-1 and LZ-2. The SpaceX proposals for both LC-39A and SLC-40 would see a max of 20 and 34 landings at each of those two launch complexes respectively.
“Therefore, the total number of Falcon boosters landing at CCSFS (SLC-40) would remain within the maximum analyzed in the 2020 EA,” the FAA wrote.
What comes next?
With the environmental go ahead from both the FAA and the DAF, SpaceX can now move towards the next steps of executing its plans for SLC-40.
SpaceX already applied to the DAF for a real property agreement that would allow the construction and operation of a new landing zone at SLC-40. It also requested a modification to its current FAA launch license to allow for the increased number of launches and to land at the new landing zone.
“The completion of the environmental review process does not guarantee that the FAA will issue a license modification or a new license to SpaceX for the Proposed Action,” the Final EA states. “SpaceX’s license application must also meet FAA safety, risk, and financial responsibility requirements per 14 CFR Chapter III.”
SpaceX announced during the launch campaign of the Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station that it would end its use of LZ-1 with that mission. It still intends to use LZ-2 until its lease expires at the end of the year.
During a prelaunch briefing on Sept. 12, ahead of a cargo flight to the International Space Station, Jared Metter, Director of Flight Reliability for SpaceX, said they are already progressing towards the future of SLC-40.
“We are already underway, working and building those landing zones that will be local at the pads that we’re launching from and we hope to be landing on those early next year,” Metter said.
