Musk threatens Florida move
February 14, 2022
Elon Musk is considering shifting the giant SpaceX Starship development and testing work from its current Texas base to Florida.
Musk’s worry is an ongoing environmental review being undertaken by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA is expected to deliver its verdict on Starship testing by February 28th, and which – if favourable – would permit testing of the massive rocket speedily thereafter.
But there’s a very real risk that the FAA would mandate a tougher environmental impact study and this could take much longer with some reports suggesting a delay of up to one year.
Musk’s implied threat is that Florida wants the SpaceX business, is well used to hosting giant rocket launches, and wants the jobs.
“It would obviously set us back for quite some time because an EIS takes a lot longer than an EA, so we would have to shift our priorities to Cape Kennedy,” Musk told journalists.
Indeed, SpaceX already has environmental approvals from Florida. Work is already being done on various launch complexes at Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.
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