Tell the FAA your concerns about environmental damage from Starship launches

The FAA is currently seeking comment on SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy launch cadence in Boca Chica, Texas, until 17th of January 2025. The FAA’s call for comments is here, and its environmental assessment document is here. We have included additional information below the submission instructions on this page.

The US Federal Aviation Administration is the main regulatory body for rocket launches in the US.  They make rules about launches operated by US corporations on US soil, and occasionally take comments from the public on certain new rules they make.  They do not make it particularly easy to submit comments, so below are step-by-step directions.  Please note that any comments you submit are public documents that will be read and possibly quoted by journalists, space lawyers, satellite corporations, and anyone else who is interested, so write your comment with care.  You can submit comments even if you do not live in the United States.

How to submit your comment:

1. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FAA-2024-2006-0114 (opens in new tab)

2. In the “Comment” field, start typing your comment, or you can upload a pdf.

Because your comment will become a public document, we highly encourage you to write your concerns in your own words.  But here is a template statement that you can start from:

I have grave concerns about the ecological damage already caused by SpaceX launches in what is supposed to be a protected wetland area.  It is clear that environmental regulations have not been closely followed by SpaceX in the past and I am writing to express concern that the amount of severe damage will increase with more frequent Starship and Super Heavy launches, landings, and tests.  This environmental damage includes severe noise pollution and structural damage in nearby towns, destruction of wetlands and displacement of endangered species local to the launch site, as well as more frequent launches changing the chemistry of Earth’s upper atmosphere and destruction of the ozone layer, as has recently been documented in peer-reviewed research papers. 

I do not support the FAA allowing more frequent launches by SpaceX.

3. Once your letter is typed or uploaded, you can enter your contact information, or select “anonymous”

Additional information about SpaceX-caused environmental damage

SpaceX has already caused severe environmental damage at their launch site in Boca Chica, Texas by not following US environmental laws and common rocket launch safety practices, just with their test launches since 2019.  Extensive ecological damage and severe impacts to endangered wetlands, as well as impacts to local residents, have been documented, such as bowling-ball sized concrete slabs hitting parked cars and igniting a 3.5 acre fire.  The sonic boom from the October Starship launch was measured to be strong enough to cause structural damage to houses in nearby towns.

In January 2024, SpaceX requested to purchase 43 protected acres in Boca Chica State Park. In return, they would gift 477 acres of a completely different part of Texas, near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, to Texas Parks and Wildlife. This proposed trade caused local uproar and a lawsuit, as just a year prior Texans had already approved a $1 billion state park fund that had plans to acquire the same 477 acres–  without giving any land away to SpaceX in a trade, or competing with them to purchase the same land. 

In addition to the environmental impacts to the areas immediately surrounding the launch site, Starship/Super Heavy launches also have the potential to negatively impact global climate and the ozone layer. Frequent large rocket launches will release massive amounts of water vapor, nitrogen oxides and soot into the upper atmosphere. Soot will absorb solar radiation and increase stratospheric temperatures, leading to unknown effects on atmospheric chemistry, including the potential to increase the rate of ozone depletion. The release of nitrogen oxides (NOx) might also contribute to ozone depletion, while  water vapor can act like a greenhouse gas, and increase the incidence of polar stratospheric clouds, which provide surfaces for ozone depleting reactions. Finally, rocket launches and the reentry of rocket bodies also punch “holes” into Earth’s ionosphere, leading to bright auroral glows in the sky and disrupting the transmission of radio and GPS signals. Scientific observations of the March 2024 Starship launch show that it “shredded” the upper atmosphere, potentially threatening radio transmissions, GPS, and other satellite systems we rely upon.

There are so many detrimental effects of frequent, large rocket launches that have not been properly studied. Without careful study, better engineering, and mitigation strategies, these frequent huge rocket launches threaten many aspects of the local environment, the upper atmosphere, and our global satellite communication system.