SpaceX aims for 25 spacecraft launches by 2025

SpaceX wants to increase the launch frequency of its Starship rockets to 25 launches per year from 2025.

This would mark a dramatic increase from the five annual launches currently allowed at the Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

The Federal Aviation Administration recently issued a environmental impact assessment of SpaceX’s proposal to increase the number of annual launches as it continues to ramp up its test flights. The company’s massive SpaceX rocket is central to its ambitions to launch crew and cargo voyages to the moon and Mars. It recently conducted two launches within two months, a total of six times so far.

Although launches would begin at the company’s starbase, landings according to the design could take place on a floating platform in various locations, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean.

However, to operate at a faster pace, SpaceX must obtain a new license or license modification from the FAA to launch and land Starship and the Super Heavy booster. The initial launch frequency was set in 2022.

The FAA will need to assess the potential environmental impacts of accommodating more launches, including the impact on wildlife, air emissions, water quality and noise levels. Some environmentalists believe the launches will impact the local environment. With each launch, thousands of liters of industrial wastewater are released into the environment. SpaceX has already received more than $150,000 in damages for violations, an agency said NPR report.

The request for more launches reflects SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s launch ambitions hundreds of spaceship missions during this decade, including a surge during President Trump’s administration. The company is also working on a Starship-related lander for NASA’s Artemis III mission to the moon, which will send the first woman and person of color to the moon. That mission is scheduled for September 2026, after delays caused by funding issues and technical challenges.