SpaceX Approved for 25 Starship Launches from Boca Chica, Starbase Becomes New City

SpaceX has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to increase the number of Starship rocket launches from its Boca Chica facility in Brownsville, Texas, to 25 per year, up from a previous limit of five. The FAA's final environmental assessment determined that the increased launch cadence, which also includes 25 landings of the Super Heavy booster, would not significantly impact the local environment, provided SpaceX implements proper mitigation measures. The decision comes at a time when SpaceX employees in South Texas voted to incorporate Starbase as a new city, with fellow employees elected as mayor and city commissioners. The vote resulted in 212 in favor and six against, with most voters being SpaceX employees. Starbase, covering 1.6 square miles, is now officially a city in Texas, managed by SpaceX personnel. The approval for increased launches is part of SpaceX's broader plans to ramp up testing of the Starship vehicle, which is crucial for future missions to the moon and Mars. The Starship rocket, standing at 403 feet tall, is designed to be fully reusable and capable of carrying significant payloads, including up to 100 tons to Mars or up to 100 people for interplanetary flights. The recent tests using the new Block 2 design have ended in 'rapid unscheduled disassembly', but SpaceX continues to prepare for NASA's Artemis III mission.