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Brownsville SpaceX Space Port Faces More Regulatory Hurdles
MarkWhittington (1084047) writes "It turns out that the recent FAA environmental impact statement that seemed to give a stamp of approval for the proposed SpaceX space port in south Texas is not the end of the regulatory process, but the end of the beginning. A story in the Brownsville Herald reminds us that the report has kicked off a 30 day review period after which the FAA can allow SpaceX to apply for a launch license to start work on the Brownsville area launch facility. And that in turn kicks off a 180 day process during which the FAA makes the decision whether or not to grant the required licensing and permits.
But even that is not the end of the regulatory hurdles that SpaceX must face before the first Falcon rocket roars into the skies over the Gulf of Mexico. The Longview News-Journal reports that a number of state and federal agencies must give their approval for various aspects of the space port before it becomes operational. For instance, the Texas Department of Transportation must give approval for the movement of utility lines. Environment Texas still opposes the space port since it is close to a wild life reserve and a state park. SpaceX has already agreed to enact measures to minimize the impact the space port would have on the environment, 'such as containing waste materials from the construction and enforcing a speed limit in the control center area.' Environment Texas is not impressed, however. Whether it is disposed to make trouble in the courts is an open question."
But even that is not the end of the regulatory hurdles that SpaceX must face before the first Falcon rocket roars into the skies over the Gulf of Mexico. The Longview News-Journal reports that a number of state and federal agencies must give their approval for various aspects of the space port before it becomes operational. For instance, the Texas Department of Transportation must give approval for the movement of utility lines. Environment Texas still opposes the space port since it is close to a wild life reserve and a state park. SpaceX has already agreed to enact measures to minimize the impact the space port would have on the environment, 'such as containing waste materials from the construction and enforcing a speed limit in the control center area.' Environment Texas is not impressed, however. Whether it is disposed to make trouble in the courts is an open question."
These are all formalities.
The US Government knows that they need SpaceX, and Texas definitely wants SpaceX to stay in Texas, and folks, both for the completely obvious reasons.
Of course there are reviews to take place, and itâ(TM)s my guess that none of this is either a surprise nor going to be a roadblock to the SpaceX Thunderdome in Texasâ¦
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
I wonder if these environmentalists have ever been to Florida. Where they launch lots of rockets. Where they launch rockets right next to a wildlife preserve.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
the Massachusetts' State Fire Marshall, an early form of busybody bureaucrat, forced Goddard to move and this is merely a continuance of that grand governmet tradition.
Time Bomber the Book coming soon.
I wonder if these environmentalists have ever been to Florida. Where they launch lots of rockets. Where they launch rockets right next to a wildlife preserve.
Pretty sure quite a few of them go there to watch and cheer, then go home and say "not here!"
Time Bomber the Book coming soon.
the Massachusetts' State Fire Marshall, an early form of busybody bureaucrat, forced Goddard to move and this is merely a continuance of that grand governmet tradition.
Correction: my bad. The fire marshall only forced Goddard to move onto a military base, before he moved a few years later to New Mexico.
Time Bomber the Book coming soon.
Most "environmentalist" concerns are NIMBY concerns.
The conservationists in Florida have often said the Launch Facility was an amazing boon for the wildlife.
:P
The conservationists in Texas should be happy about the new spaceport for the benefits it'll bring for wildlife conservation.
Besides, I've lived in Texas, and it's not exactly an environmental gem in the first place.
Would probably approve this in 24 hours.
as long as you don't have disasters, wildlife parks are great place for rocket launches. You want a buffer of several miles between the rockets and the rest of humans... which means 80% of the land is left wild like at Kennedy.
More seriously, I have always wondered why NASA didn't set up its Apollo-era launch facilities in Brownsville to begin with. It's as far south as you can get in the lower 48, it has open water to the west, and it doesn't have that terrible Florida weather that kept delaying every launch. Also unlike Florida, it would have been not nearly so far from the Houston command center.
without some regulator from somewhere trying to stick a "out of compliance" tag on my ass
Shouldn't the Spaceport be in the US?
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
When did Texas start believing in science?
EVERY important industy and large-scale construction project in the US got started BEFORE the EPA, the FAA, and many other parts of the government were created. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
The aerospace industry pre-dates the FAA and the EPA. All the major defense companies pre-date them. Elon Musk's SpaceX is extremely unique in being created after all those agencies existed - all it took for his success was: [a] a BILLIONARE with [2] far more drive and conviction than most people and [3] a focus on one product (a rocket) that part of the government NEEDED (for ISS resupply post-shuttle grounding) and even then SpaceX VERY NEARLY failed (there's video online of Musk talking about this). Had the government not NEEDED SpaceX to succeed, it would not have signed a contract with him and handed him piles of cash.... and then he WOULD have failed and there'd be NO examples of post-big-government aerospace success.
The computer industry similarly pre-dates all the big government regulations. When the Apple II rolled-off the assembly line, it (like the Radio Shack TRS-80's, the IMSAI kits, the KIM kits, etc) was NOT subject to all the limits on things like lead or electronic emissions certifications. The industry we have today could not have been started under the current regulations... so it could not have grown to become big-enough to withstand the regulations we currently have.
The interstate highway system, all the nation's big science facilities (like the Kennedy Space Center, the Stennis Space Center, Edwards AFB) many vital bits of infrastructure like the Hoover Dam and St Lawrence Seaway, the transcontinental rail routes, etc ALL pre-date the bloated government and its insane regulations.
The biggest problem with all these regulations is NOT even the regulations themselves (which often seem so reasonable when you read them in the abstract) but rather lies in the sort of people who end-up running the parts of government that enforce them: The government is full of LUNATICS playing with the "levers of power" who do not give a damn about the impact they are having on entire industries (and all the "little" people who depend on those industries). The Obama administration has recently offered us several glimpses of these flunkies: former SecState Hillary Clinton ranting "What DIFFERENCE does it make!" in her testimony over the dead in benghazi, the guy interviewed about his role in the benghazi memos ("Dude, it's been like, two YEARS!"), and the bimbo at the state dept who just this past week indicated her fervent belief that she and her buddies in thier air conditioned offices in DC know mare about whether the recently re-patriated POW was a deserter than the guy's own platoon members. NONE of the afore-mentioned idiots are runnng the EPA, but it's that SORT of person with that SORT of warped world-view that IS
I always see environmentalists telling others how to live, but i never see environmentalists living off the land themselves
That's because the ones that are living off the land are too busy to slashdot, and you don't get out much.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Citation? I don't keep that sort of thing in my backyard, sorry. My cousin has a couple on blocks in his though, so maybe you should bother him.