SpaceX Gets Environmental OK for Texas Spaceport
It's a rather good day for California-based commercial transport company SpaceX.
Hours before the company's highly-anticipated unveiling of its seven-passenger Dragon V2 capsule, developed as a potential space taxi for astronauts traveling to and from the International Space Station, the Federal Aviation Administration gave preliminary approval for SpaceX to build a spaceport on an isolated stretch of South Texas coastline.
The agency determined constructing the spaceport and, subsequently, launching from the site, would not negatively impact the environment near the community of Brownsville, according to a report by the Houston Chronicle.
"The proposed action is consistent with existing national environmental policies and objectives," said the report, signed off by George Nield, the FAA's associate administrator for commercial space transportation.
Aside from confirming SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., passing the regulatory review, the 392-page report also provided several details about the spacecraft builder's plans for the site -- including the possible start of Falcon 9 rocket launches there in 2016.
After the report was released, SpaceX spokeswoman Hannah Post said the company is looking forward to finalizing a course of action for a commercial spaceport.
"Though Brownsville remains a finalist for the development of a commercial orbital launch complex, the decision will not be made until all technical and regulatory due diligence is complete," Post said. "While the timing of some of these critical steps is not within SpaceX's control, we are hopeful that these will be complete in the near future."
The federal report outlines various criteria, such as a southerly location and an eastward-facing coastline, that SpaceX used to qualify a site for up to 12 launches a year of its Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy, which will carry into orbit mostly commercial payloads, such as satellites.
The Falcon 9 already carries unmanned Dragon cargo missions into low-Earth orbit, where the automated capsule docks with the International Space Station, whereas the Falcon 9 Heavy, still under development, is expected to be the most powerful rocket of its kind.
"SpaceX identified and screened potential sites for commercial launch activities," the report said, according to the Chronicle story. "After extensive evaluation, which included consideration of economic and technological constraints, the proposed location in southern Texas was identified by SpaceX as the only viable location for SpaceX to construct and operate its commercial Falcon vehicles."
SpaceX has pledged to close the nearby Texas beaches for no more than 180 hours per year for its launches and plans to stage most of its launches between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
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