SPACE.com Columnist Leonard David

SpaceX Receives FAA Approval for Proposed Spaceport in Texas

The spaceflight company SpaceX flies a reusable rocket prototype, the F9R, on a test flight from its McGregor, Texas, proving grounds. The Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX has received FAA approval for a potential private rocket launch site in Cameron C
The spaceflight company SpaceX flies a reusable rocket prototype, the F9R, on a test flight from its McGregor, Texas, proving grounds. The Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX has received FAA approval for a potential private rocket launch site in Cameron County, Texas. (Image credit: SpaceX)

The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) office of Commercial Space Transportation has published a "Record of Decision" giving approval for a SpaceX Texas Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas.

This decision provides final environmental determination and approval "to support the issuance of launch licenses and/or experimental permits that would allow Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) to launch the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy orbital vertical launch vehicles and a variety of reusable suborbital launch vehicles from a launch site on privately owned property in Cameron County, Texas."

SpaceX has proposed to construct and operate a private launch site to accommodate the number of launches that the company has on its launch manifest.

The proposed private launch site is needed to provide SpaceX with an exclusive launch site that would allow the company to accommodate its launch manifest and meet tight launch windows.

This map from an FAA Record of Decision shows the location of SpaceX's proposed commercial launch site in Cameron County, Texas. (Image credit: FAA)

SpaceX intends to apply to the FAA for launch licenses and/or experimental permits to conduct launches of the Falcon Program vehicles, and a variety of reusable suborbital launch vehicles, for a total of up to 12 commercial launch operations per year from the proposed launch site on privately owned property in Cameron County, Texas.

The FAA would likely issue launch specific licenses for the first few years of operation from the exclusive launch site. SpaceX may then apply for a launch operator license, which lasts for five years and covers the same family of vehicles.

The decision was signed on July 9 by Dr. George C. Nield, head of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation office.

For the FAA's entire Record of Decision text, visit: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/environmental/nepa_doc

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Leonard David
Space Insider Columnist

Leonard David is an award-winning space journalist who has been reporting on space activities for more than 50 years. Currently writing as Space.com's Space Insider Columnist among his other projects, Leonard has authored numerous books on space exploration, Mars missions and more, with his latest being "Moon Rush: The New Space Race" published in 2019 by National Geographic. He also wrote "Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet" released in 2016 by National Geographic. Leonard  has served as a correspondent for SpaceNews, Scientific American and Aerospace America for the AIAA. He was received many awards, including the first Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History in 2015 at the AAS Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium. You can find out Leonard's latest project at his website and on Twitter.