On the morning of the fifteenth day of the first month of Beijing time, at least 13 hours late in the United States, it was Valentine's Day, and the FAA released a message: the FAA once again postponed the results of the starship's environmental impact assessment, making the first flight of the starship more confusing.
On the same day, the B4+S20, which had been combined for four days, separated again and split in two.
● The Starship Environmental Impact Assessment has been postponed again, and it will be announced as early as March 28
The powerful Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on February 14, EST, that the environmental assessment report on the starship base was postponed again, from the original february 28 release, and planned to be released on March 28. This announcement was postponed two weeks earlier than the last, not two days from the last time. On the surface, work efficiency has improved, but on a deeper level, things have become more complicated and confusing.
● At best, guess: the FAA raises its noble hand and puts the old horse on a horse
The FAA is corroborating musk's statement at the Feb. 10 starship launch; "We get a vague hint that the FAA may approve the starship environmental assessment procedures in March." Due to pressure and urging from many parties, the FAA finally raised its hands high, let the old horse go, and all parties rejoiced, which is the best result that most people are happy to see, and it is also our best blessing before the current hole card is revealed.
● Bad guess: The FAA sends an ominous signal
However, another possibility must also be seriously considered, and the FAA's release of ominous omens: the EIA process will continue to be consumed... The announcement was postponed on Feb. 14, four days short of The February 10 starship launch, but 14 days before the Feb. 28 EIA results were announced. Obviously, the FAA's rapid and abnormal response was not aimed at solving the problem and going through the EIA process normally, but in response to Musk's latest remarks.
As we all know, at the Starship press conference on February 10, when the media asked: What should the FAA do if it does not approve environmental protection procedures? Musk responded: "The reality is that we did not have a serious impact on the environment here. Of course, from a regulatory point of view, this does not mean that such things (approval procedures) will not be postponed ... We can choose Cape Florida Launch. In fact, we applied for EIA approval for the launch of a starship from Ka-Ka-ka a few years ago, and it was approved. So I think the worst-case scenario is, (even if the FAA doesn't approve the launch of the Texas Starship Base), there may be a delay of 6 to 8 months, and it will be transferred to Cape Florida to build a launch tower and launch the starship there."
In other words, Musk has made the worst-case scenario, and the FAA has been delaying the Texas Starship project without approval, and will quickly transfer to launch the starship. Use 6 to 8 months to build a new starship launch tower in Cape Cabo Florida (Kennedy Space Center 39A) and transfer the position to test the starship.
●The FAA has been slow to approve deep causes
In recent years, Musk has repeatedly publicly criticized/attacked the FAA bureaucracy, leading to a feud between the two sides. There are also some deep reasons that cannot be directly confirmed, but it is likely that there are secretly existing, and many invisible palms are putting pressure on the FAA: starships will become the biggest and strongest alternative to SLS, and those political and business vested interests entangled in SLS will definitely intervene to obstruct starships, and these people are very clear: once the wings of the starship are full, they will sweep everything, and the United States will enter the era of starships. By then, no one can keep the greedy, useless and backward SLS project. The only thing that can delay the starship now is the environmental impact assessment.
Therefore, it is not difficult for us to see this strange phenomenon at present: although THERE are NASA, DoD, Texas government departments, Wall Street investment institutions, and some lobbying forces are endorsing and working hard for SpaceX, the FAA seems to be soft and hard, and the iron heart is to engage Musk, so that the environmental assessment procedures of the Texas Starship Base have been delayed again and again, and they have not been approved.
Current U.S. federal law requires an FAA to grant a launch permit (including an environmental assessment) for any space launch site operating on U.S. soil, leading to the strange phenomenon of the powerful FAA delaying approval of the Texas Starship Base.
Reasons for the FAA's delay in the EIA report late last year: "More than 18,000 comments have been received and SpaceX is drafting responses to those comments. While SpaceX is responding to these comments, the FAA is consulting and coordinating with local authorities and federal agencies. Both of these factors contributed to the eventual PEA delay." These reasons seem plausible and too much for SpaceX and its supporters to refute. But the FAA didn't bother to invent a new reason for Valentine's Day, but simply gave it bluntly: "This time postponed to March 28 to allow more time for review and cross-agency consultation." It's like punching Musk in the face — the FAA quickly denied Musk's good expectations at the starship launch: "We got a vague hint that the FAA may approve the starship environmental assessment procedures in March." Seeing this, we have to admit very helplessly: the EIA report that determines the progress of the starship and affects the future of the starship will be postponed for at least 1 month, and it is likely that the FAA will find a reason to continue to delay... The old horse's worst intentions are likely to be said by reality. It seems that the transition plan has to be activated.
● Musk's redundant solution
In fact, SpaceX has long planned a two-line launch plan, according to a relevant NASA document in 2019, SpaceX has been approved to launch a starship in Cape Florida (including the FAA holding the relevant procedures). On December 3, 2021, Lao Ma tweeted: "The starship orbital launch pad has been built in KaJiao." Starship conference Musk really dare to say: if the FAA does not approve, the starship transfer launch 2022 starship conference LIVE version (the whole process is not deleted) has a plan, which is one of the reasons why Musk can become Musk today.
According to multiple sources, a new starship tower and supporting systems are under construction at the LC-39A gold launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Cabo, Florida. According to what Lao Ma said at the starship launch, it will take 6 to 8 months to build a new launch base in KaJiao. If you count from now on, the 39A starship launch base will be built as soon as the end of August and the beginning of September this year. There is hope for achieving the challenge of successfully putting the starship into orbit this year. The new tower/capture tower is located on the southwest side of the existing launch pad, just a few hundred meters away. This means that the LC-39A will have the ability to launch three space launch systems at the same time: the Falcon 9 rocket (F9), the Falcon Heavy (FH), and the Starship system (Starship). That is, at least all three will operate in parallel for a period of time until the Falcon series rockets are completely replaced by starships.
●In addition to LC-39A, there is LC-49
In fact, there is more than one starship launch site, in addition to the LC-39A, SpaceX proposed to NASA and its Kennedy Space Center as early as 2014 to "build another starship launch site LC-49". According to Tom Engler, director of planning and development at the Kennedy Space Center, the LC-49 is located about 1.6 kilometers northwest of the current LC-39B and about 5 kilometers northwest of the LC-39A, and will not only be used for launching and landing starship systems, but will also serve as a new base for the construction of starships (a new construction base in addition to the Texas starship base). So far, though, the LC-49 is only a virgin land to be developed. This is very similar to Boca Chica, Texas a few years ago, all of which belong to the wetlands along the beach, natural protection. All the starships must be built from scratch, and the cost and cost can be imagined.
● Starship home must be selected card corner
With the advent of the starship era, at least one or two starship towers will be built here in the future. With the Texas starship base will be dismantled sooner or later, spaceX will have launch bases in Florida and Texas, at least four or five launch towers, and is fully capable of achieving a grand narrative of low-cost and high-efficiency fully reused starship systems. In the long run, Cape Florida is the home of the starship launch, and the Texas Starship Base is mainly a development, manufacturing and testing base. After all, the main support for the launch needs of starships is NASA and DoD, and the home of starships must be selected in Ka corner.
One proof is that the building is already in its infancy, just a few kilometers north of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Cabo, Florida, on the Roberts Rd section, where a building is rising, the rapidly rising SpaceX Operations Area. Here will be the Matxi (Matrix) of the future starship era, operating the space transport system that is one era ahead of its time.