According to CNET, after several months of delay, there are signs that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States is getting closer and closer to the final completion of the required environmental assessment, and has issued a launch license for the first orbital flight of the rocket Elon Musk hopes to send humans back to the moon and to Mars. Nevertheless, faa announced on Tuesday morning that it would once again extend its self imposed deadline for completing environmental assessment But this time it was only postponed for another two weeks, not one or two months added by the FAA in the past postponement announcement.
"The FAA intends to release the final program environmental assessment (PEA) for the SpaceX starship / ultra heavy project on June 13, 2022," the agency said in an e-mail statement. "Inter agency consultations are ongoing. The completion of the pea does not guarantee that the FAA will issue a launch license. SpaceX's application must also meet the FAA's safety, risk and financial responsibility requirements."
More than 18000 public comments were submitted during the environmental review process starting in 2021. The FAA has been consulting with SpaceX and other government agencies over the past few months to minimize concerns about the potential environmental impact of the mission.
According to the current plan, SpaceX will launch the prototype of a starship matching a super heavy booster for the first time in history. The aircraft will be launched from the company's Starbase facility in Texas, fly briefly into orbit, and then return to the coast of Hawaii for a water landing. The booster will attempt to land on an offshore landing platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
At first, FAA hoped to complete the assessment before the end of 2021, but the deadline has been pushed back again and again, the last time from the end of April to May 31.
For musk and SpaceX, the best case is that no significant impact, or Fonsi, is found during the evaluation process. This may include some additional measures or modifications that SpaceX must take before launching, but it may still allow the launch as soon as the middle of next month. It is also possible that the FAA will find that more stringent environmental impact reporting is required, which may delay the launch of the Starship for many more months.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.