FAA delays environmental review of SpaceX's Starship yet another month, to May 31

[Elderberry]

Space.com By Mike Wall 4/29/2022

The FAA has repeatedly pushed back the estimated release date of the final report.

We'll have to wait at least another month to see the results of the U.S Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) environmental review of SpaceX's Starship program.

The FAA has been working for months on that review — officially known as a programmatic environmental assessment (PEA) — which is assessing the environmental impacts of Starbase, the South Texas site where SpaceX has been building and testing its huge Starship vehicle.

The agency published a draft PEA in September and estimated that the final version would be wrapped up by the end of the year. But the FAA has repeatedly delayed the final PEA, generally by a month at a time, citing the need to analyze the public comments submitted in response to the draft report and discuss next steps with other government agencies.

More: https://www.space.com/faa-spacex-starship-review-delayed-may-31

[GtHawk]

I sure would like to see the communications from the White House to the FAA. No sooner does an American company make huge leaps in technology that would put America not only back on the moon but make travel to Mars a real possibility then Captain Dementia's administration hamstrings it. I wonder how much money China sent to The Big Guy to clear the path for them to establish the first moon bases?

[ironhorsedriver]

Waiting to see how long Musk waits before moving his rockets to a more friendly country?

[Elderberry]

Waiting to see how long Musk waits before moving his rockets to a more friendly country?

He would have to split SpaceX in two. The FAA wouldn't license their rockets to launch in the US if built in a foreign country. NASA would be in deep shit otherwise.

They could just scoot right across the border to Playa Bagdad Mexico.

[catfish1957]

Space.com By Mike Wall 4/29/2022

The FAA has repeatedly pushed back the estimated release date of the final report.

Take it from someone who spent almost their entire career dealing with federal, state, and local regulatory agencies......

This is just the beginning, and it doesn't bear well for Musk, unless the swamp is drained, and politically motivated hacks are taken out of the equation.

[Elderberry]

We'll just have to see how much they really want to go back to the moon, if at all.