SpaceX’s proposed launch site draws concerns
Worries raised about environmental damage, Playalinda Beach road
SpaceX proposes to build a launch and landing site for its Starship rockets at the north end of Kennedy Space Center in an area wedged between the historic pads built for moon rockets and Canaveral National Seashore.
During the era of space shuttles, which flew from the pair of former moon-rocket pads, the road providing access to the seashore’s southern end at Playalinda Beach was routinely closed for launches.
The potential for regular or prolonged closures of the beach-access road and the destruction of coastal wetlands resulting from SpaceX’s launch and landing site has drawn Audubon Florida’s concern.
The natural environment adjoining the proposed launch site, including habitat of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, is “one of the most important birding sites in Eastern North America,” said Audubon Florida’s director of advocacy, Charles Lee.
Lee would not comment further, pending Audubon’s review of SpaceX plans. A formal and detailed study overseen by NASA of potential environmental impacts from the rocket pad is poised to start in early 2022.
For launch operations, “this would be the most significant change to the center since the mid-1960s,” said Tom Engler, director of center planning and development for KSC.
If developed, the 175-acre rocket site would be Launch Complex 49, or LC-49, spreading across 175 acres about 1.5 miles north of the LC-39B, the nearest of the two launch sites used by Apollo moon rockets and space shuttles.
Space X already is moving to overhaul LC-39A, the other original paid used by moon rockets and shuttles, for Starship operations.
Still under development, the massive SpaceX’s Starship stacked on top of the Super Heavy booster is envisioned for moon and Mars travel with the capability to carry dozens of passengers.
For SpaceX’s proposed development of LC-49, NASA has not yet disclosed a schedule for the environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act, which will include a public comment period.
The agency will provide study details at environmental.ksc.nasa.gov/EnvironmentalPlanning/starshipsuperheavy and also will provide study updates to members of the public who request them at ksc-spacexstarship@mail.nasa.gov
Engler said LC-49 was given conceptual approval nearly a decade as part of updating the center’s master plan for growth.
At the time, the center was in a lull with the retirement of the space shuttle program and public response to the master plan was generally supportive of expanding launch operations.
In 2014, NASA announced that the 175-acre site, which lies within the secure zone of Kennedy Space Center, was available for development.
Engler said final approval for development of LC-49 will hinge on the details of SpaceX’s proposal and the company’s ability to meet environmental and permitting obligations. With the company’s development plan not yet vetted by the public or other government agencies, Engler declined to predict an outcome for the access road to Playalinda Beach.
“In the time since we established the master plan in 2014, we now have four companies doing human spaceflight activ
ities at the center,” Engler said.
“It’s a pretty exciting time that speaks well of the thought process that went into developing the master plan and we’ve been able to do this in a way that honors the past and catapults us into the future,” he said.
SpaceX and Space Florida, the state’s promoter of aerospace development, could not be reached for comment.
Space Florida previously has backed development of KSC launch operations at another site outside of the secure zone but still within the center’s larger boundary.