Starship is Getting a New Environmental Assessment

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released the details on the new Tiered Environmental Assessment (TEA) for Starbase. This proposal will help SpaceX expand operations in Starbase and better define operations for the Starship program.

Why Does SpaceX need a new EA?

In the original 2022 Programmable Environment Assessment (PEA), SpaceX was permitted to build two Orbital Launch Pads (OLPs) at Boca Chica. The original plans called for Pad B to be south of Pad A and use no deluge equipment. Since that PEA, many things have changed. SpaceX has since added a deluge and wants to construct a flame trench for Pad B, which has now moved to the west of Pad A.

With all of these changes, SpaceX must complete additional environmental paperwork to get approval to use these designs. 

This is now laid out in the new Tiered Environmental Assessment (TEA), which will be an updated document for the purposes of Pad B, the increases in candace, and the vehicle changes as stated in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for LC-39A. This TEA must be passed in order to launch out of Pad B, use the new equipment, and upgrade the Starship vehicle designs.

LC-39A in Mid July (Credit: Max Evans for NSF/L2)

The current alternative actions are LC-39A, which as said, is going through an EIS to approve the current changes to the starship program compared to the 2019 EIS. This would put LC-39A a decent amount of time away from ever supporting a launch, so it being used as an alternative is off the table to keep up with launch contracts.

The second alternative, SLC-37 or SLC-50, is also undergoing its own EIS. SpaceX is expected to be allowed to start construction on this launch pad only in late 2025.

The final alternative is the no-action alternative. This basically means that this TEA is not approved, and SpaceX will not be allowed to launch at its increased cadence or use Pad B. This would significantly set back the Starship program.

Proposed Layout of SpaceX’s Launch Site (Credit: FAA)

Confirmation of Pad Changes

With the release of this TEA proposal, many new things regarding the launch site can be seen. SpaceX intends to share the Orbital Tank Farm (OTF) as stated in the TEA and during the Flight 4 broadcast. On the map above, SpaceX is going to move the D2 gate or launch site entrance to the other side of Starhopper. This will allow crews to install additional tanks and most likely a separate set of pumps and subcoolers for Pad B.

Sharing the OTF helps SpaceX not have to source or build enough tanks for an entire other launch pad and will help keep loading areas and equipment centralized. Now, these subcoolers and pumps will be routed through commodities trenches to the tower and the pad itself. Pad B is set up to have a flame trench and diverter using the lessons learned on Pad A just next door.

Orbital Launch Site (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF/L2)

To help fill this tank farm, SpaceX is adding a full air separation unit, which will take Oxygen and Nitrogen from the atmosphere and condense them to liquid form. Once in liquid form, the air separation unit can fill the Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) tanks in the OTF. SpaceX will still have to truck in Liquid Methane (LCH4). This will help reduce the number of trucks required to fill the massive OTF.

Pad B’s deluge and sound suppression systems will have their own water farm separate from Pad A. This farm will supply water for a new pad deck cooling system that will debut on this new pad, as confirmed in this TEA.

Updated Vehicle Specifications

As seen in the LC-39A EIS proposal, SpaceX either intends to upgrade the starship to these specifications or is increasing them significantly to provide a buffer. The ship, which is the second stage is set to be up to 70 meters tall, compared to 50 meters right now. The long-awaited nine-engine second stage and the stretch of the ship will increase the propellant capacity from around 1,300 metric tons (MT) with Block 1 starship to 2,650 MT.

A slide showing performance numbers for Starship versions. (Credit: SpaceX)

The booster which is the first stage, is also slated to get taller, going from 70 meters to 80 meters. Two more engines will bring it to 35, and the propellant capacity will be 4,100 MT, which is just 900 MT less than the current full stack. With these increases, SpaceX can fulfill the 200+ tons to orbit reusable number promised in the past.

With the increases in mass will also come increases in thrust to compensate. Starship thrust will now be 28.7 Mega Newtons (MN), up from 12.25 MN currently, and booster thrust will be 103 MN, up from 69.9 MN currently. These numbers are for Starship Block 3, which is still in the future, and for now, the current upgrades are much smaller with Block 2.

Increased Cadence

As of right now, SpaceX is allotted ten launches per year with five landings out of Starbase. In this TEA, SpaceX is requesting to increase that to 25 launches of ships and boosters, along with 50 landings. This setup has 24 during the daytime and is only allotted one night launch from Starbase. In this case, night time is stated as 7 pm to 7 am Central Time.

With this increased cadence, SpaceX can make more launches. However, to use this cadence allotment, teams must step up ship and booster production and finish Pad B as soon as possible, assuming this TEA gets approved.

Ship 29 and Booster 11 in Flight (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF/L2)

Flight Operations

SpaceX and the FAA have set operational goals and limits for the Starship program going forward. One is that there shall be no more than 20 explosive events over water during the program’s life. These would occur in the first five years as SpaceX learns the vehicle.

During flights, the hot stage ring is expected to be jettisoned for up to the first 20 flights. With return-to-launch site landings, the ring is expected to land four kilometers offshore. This means that Booster Block 2 is likely a ways out, as that booster should have big changes for Pad B and other lessons learned.

Regarding return-to-launch site landings, SpaceX will run the water deluge system for booster catches but not for ship catches. This is because, with boosters, the engines will be much closer to the ground.

SpaceX has continued to mention landing on an offshore platform for a starship landing. In this TEA, a method of transportation was mentioned, which was the form of a breakover fixture. This structure would take a ship or maybe even a booster and turn it horizontal for transport over water. 

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has previously mentioned that if they were to transport vehicles to Cape Canaveral from Starbase, it would be by way of a barge and horizontal.

That is a summed-up version of the 154-page TEA document sent out by the FAA. 

Featured Image: Orbital Launch Site with two Towers (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF/L2)

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