Florida Environmentalists Sound Alarm on SpaceX Bid to Launch 120 Rockets a Year

Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its 475th Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday, delivering yet another batch of Starlink satellites to space. This workhorse is far and away the most-launched American orbital rocket in history, and it won’t be slowing down anytime soon. SpaceX aims to more than double the number of Falcon launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, increasing from 50 to 120 per year. To do this, the company has asked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to modify its license and allow it to construct a new first-stage booster landing zone. This could result in an average rate of one launch every three days from this site alone, the Indian River Lagoon Roundtable wrote in a recent letter to the FAA. This local environmental advocacy group is one of several sounding the alarm on SpaceX’s proposal. In response to SpaceX’s license modification request, the FAA has been evaluating the emissions released by Falcon 9 rockets when they fire durin ... Read full article.