The Verge by Loren Grush 4/6/2022
SpaceX can re-open the application simply by providing the information requestedThe US Army Corps of Engineers has closed a permit application for a proposed expansion of SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas — a potential snag in the company’s plans to add new launch and landing pads to the area, as well as substantially grow the site. In a letter viewed by The Verge, the Corps cited SpaceX’s failure to provide requested follow-up information about the proposed changes as a reason for closing the permit. Among other things, the Corps wanted more details about what mitigation measures the company would take to limit the loss of water and wetlands surrounding the site.
SpaceX first purchased land in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2012, with the intention of creating a facility to launch its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. But the company has substantially expanded its plans in recent years, creating a massive new site called Starbase to build and test launch prototypes of its next-generation rocket called Starship — designed to eventually take people and cargo to deep space.
As SpaceX continues to grow its infrastructure in Boca Chica, the company periodically amends an existing permit it holds with the Army Corps of Engineers, which ensures that the construction plans don’t violate the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act. In December 2020, SpaceX proposed to modify its existing permit for an expansion that would include “the addition of test, orbital, and landing pads, integration towers, associated infrastructure, stormwater management features and vehicle parking,” according to a public notice about the changes posted by the Corps in March. SpaceX also included a crude map showing its plans, which entailed building two orbital launchpads, two suborbital launchpads, a new landing pad, and other major infrastructure changes.
Such changes would require SpaceX to backfill material into existing flats and wetlands. The public notice claimed that SpaceX’s proposed changes would affect “10.94 acres of mud flats, 5.94 acres of estuarine wetlands, and 0.28 acres of nontidal wetlands.” The Corps also said that SpaceX was working on “a comprehensive, multifaceted mitigation strategy” for the launch site, as well as taking certain avoidance measures to minimize impacts to water areas, such as putting its proposed parking lot in an “upland area to avoid wetland impacts.” Members of the public were asked to provide comments about the proposed changes during a comment period that ended on April 20th, 2021. Various activist groups, such as the Sierra Club and the local nonprofit Save RGV, urged the public to petition the Corps to deny the permit modification.
More:
https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/6/23013435/spacex-starbase-starship-army-corps-engineers-permit-application
