FAA JUST EXTENDED the public comment period for SpaceX environmental review!

FAA JUST EXTENDED the public comment period for SpaceX environmental review!
The Federal Aviation Administration has decided to extend the period for the public comments on the environmental review done for orbital flights of the Starship and super-heavy booster. Comments will now be accepted till November 1 and virtual public hearings will be done on 18t and 20th October. This will decide the fate of operations at Starbase Boca CHica outside of Brownsville. Elon Musk has developed the space vehicle to be 400 feet tall when combined and it can take up to one hundred passengers or 100 tons of cargo. There will be up to 37 raptor engines on the super heavy and up to six of these on the Starship. What are the details of the public comment period extension and how can it affect SpaceX? Are there any plans that were only known to the FAA? Is there anything related to the testing processes and constructions in the future?
The video today will first go over the extension of the public comment period, its 4 main areas of focus, and how it can affect Musk’s company. Then we will discuss the future SpaceX plans that were just made known to the public in the FAA draft. After that, we will talk about what was mentioned about the testing procedures. The last part of the video will go over the new construction planned or going on at Starbase. Here’s a quick reminder that you can subscribe for free and like the video so that we can boost the algorithm. Comments are most welcomed and the best ones will get featured in one of our upcoming videos
Extension Of Public Comment Period
The post reads that the FAA has extended the period for public comment on the draft PEA until the 1st of November 2021. Interested agencies, organizations, Native American tribes, and all other public members are given an involvement opportunity in which they can submit comments on each aspect of the environmental assessment. Two virtual public hearings will be held to solicit comments submitted by the public around the draft. These will be done on 18th and 20th October 2021.
According to the website, SpaceX requires experimental permits and or vehicle operator’s license from the Commercial Space Transportation office to be able to use its Starship and Super Heavy. The evaluation document has focused on four aspects mainly. These reviews are of number 1 public safety issues including the overflight of payload contents and populated areas, 2 national security or foreign policy concerns, 3 insurance requirements for the launch operator, and number 4 potential environmental impact. A link to the history of the Boca chica launch site and the launch site location is also given with this.
The web page also states that according to 1984’s commercial space launch act, the secretary of transportation is authorized to oversee, license, and regulate commercial launch and reentry activities along with all the operations going on at launch and reentry sites inside the borders of the United States or being conducted by US citizens. Section 50905 guides the secretary to use his powers to ensure public health and safety, the safety of property, and national security along with foreign policy interests of the US. On top of that, the section obligates the secretary to encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space launches and reentries being done by private sector operators.
Plans
A lot of interesting information about SpaceX was released to the public as the draft also discussed the company’s plans shortly. These are mainly related to the Boca chica starbase. Musk’s company is planning to construct another orbital launch pad named Pad B. as the name suggests, it’s the second one there. Both Pad A and B will be exact copies. The new one will also be equipped with its integration tower and tank farm. It is being done to copy what was done at the suborbital side which has two launch pads for redundancy. SpaceX has not yet been able to make up its mind on whether or not to install flame diverters to handle all the fumes from firing up raptor engines. Even if they did, it was not done at the time the draft was made but we will get to witness it very soon in the testing.
Another dedicated structural test stand will also be set up at Starbase. These will have the test tanks mounted on top of them. Up to ten tank tests will be done every month. Other tests are also going on there as well.
Testing The Space Vehicles
The draft has some very interesting details for the tests that happened very recently. Two categories have been defined, one is proof pressure testing and developmental testing. Proof pressure testing also has its own two types. Firstly, we have ambient proof testing which is referred to as pneumatic proof testing in the document. Filling and pressurizing the tanks with gas instead of liquids is done in this. Secondly, we have cryogenic proof testing in which liquid methane, oxygen, or nitrogen is put into the tanks.
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