SpaceX asks the FAA for up to 456 Starship launches a year from Starbase

SpaceX wants to fly Starship from Starbase, Texas, far more often. The FAA said on Oct. 14 that it will prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for a SpaceX proposal to raise Starship-Super Heavy launch and landing operations at the Boca Chica site and to expand the areas where Starship can land or be expended. Space.com reports that Starbase is currently permitted for 25 Starship flights a year.

The proposal comes in two phases. Phase 1 would allow up to 100 launches and 200 landings a year, with 100 Super Heavy booster landings and 100 Starship landings, on any day and at any hour. Phase 2 would allow up to 456 launches and 912 landings a year, at any hour but only Monday through Friday. The landing count doubles because both stages are designed to come back to the tower. The proposed action also covers the temporary airspace closures those flights would need. SpaceNews notes the request arrives while the FAA is also revising its launch regulations to allow more launches in general.

Scoping is the first step, not an approval. The FAA will hold in-person meetings on Nov. 17 at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville and on Nov. 19 at the Port Isabel Event and Cultural Center, each with 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. sessions, plus a virtual meeting on Nov. 18. Comments go to regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2026-12808 until Nov. 30. Starship has flown 14 times, and Flight 14 on Sept. 28 was its first orbital mission, deploying the first Starlink V3 satellites. Starbase is one of several planned Starship sites, alongside pads in Florida and a planned complex in Louisiana.

Key facts

• Current limit: 25 Starship flights a year from Starbase (Space.com).
• Phase 1: up to 100 launches and 200 landings a year, any day or time (FAA).
• Phase 2: up to 456 launches and 912 landings a year, weekdays only (FAA).
• Public scoping meetings Nov. 17, 18 (virtual) and 19; comments close Nov. 30 (FAA).
• The FAA is separately revising launch rules to allow more launches overall (SpaceNews).

How to read it

This is the start of an environmental review, not a license change. The FAA has not decided anything about cadence yet; the scoping period collects input on which alternatives and impacts the full impact statement should study. A draft statement and another comment round would come later.

Independence

Beam42 wrote this note from the FAA project page for the Starbase proposal, with independent reporting from Space.com and SpaceNews. It is not a SpaceX or FAA release.