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The window will soon close for public comments on a Federal Aviation Administration draft assessment analyzing proposed changes to SpaceX operations at Boca Chica/Starbase, as Starship test flights transition from suborbital to orbital.

Monday is the last day the public can submit online comments regarding the FAA’s draft “Tiered Environmental Assessment (EA) for Updates to Airspace Closures for Additional Launch Trajectories … and Landings” of Starship and Super Heavy operating from Boca Chica. A virtual public meeting that had been scheduled was canceled due to the federal shutdown.

Additional launch trajectories would include trajectories that carry Starship over parts of the United States and Mexico in “low inclination” orbits, low-earth orbits at a small angle to the equator.

To date, Starship suborbital test flight trajectories have threaded the Florida Straits north of Cuba, while all Starship landings have taken place either in the Pacific or Indian Ocean.

SpaceX needs a modification of its existing FAA vehicle operator license to cover updates that would allow orbital operations. The updates, which are analyzed in the draft Tiered EA, include “new information related to airspace closures for additional Starship-Super Heavy launch trajectories and Starship Return to Launch Site mission profiles at the Boca Chica Launch Site,” according to the FAA.

The agency said it is evaluating the “Aircraft Hazard Areas (AHA) necessary to support SpaceX’s proposed operations.”

AHA’s, common throughout the United States, are used by air traffic control to segregate air traffic from rockets or, in some cases, pieces of rockets. AHA’s are activated via the FAA’s Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) system.

The FAA said modifying SpaceX’s existing vehicle operator license would be considered a “major federal action,” as would authorization of temporary airspace closures due to space flight activities. Orbital launches would “primarily be to low inclinations with flight trajectories north or south of Cuba that minimize land overflight.”

Additional trajectories would be necessary for Starship to return to the launch site from orbit, according to the FAA. The proposed trajectories evaluated in the Tiered EA would involve “limited population overflight,” or avoid larger population centers, according to the document.

According to the Tiered EA, Starship-Super Heavy launches (and Super Heavy reentries) with trajectories crossing Florida would impact air routes eastward from Boca Chica over parts of the Gulf of Mexico, northern Florida and the Atlantic, covering roughly 1,600 nautical miles.

“AHAs may necessitate the closure of dozens of coastal and deep-water oceanic airways over the Gulf of (Mexico) and Atlantic Ocean, requiring substantial aircraft rerouting to avoid the AHAs,” according to the Tiered EA.

A return of Starship to the launch pad following orbit would affect air routes westward from Boca Chica through Mexico and portions of Texas and California, covering approximately 3,700 nautical miles,” the FAA said.

“Starship reentries would impact air routes extending from the Pacific Ocean, Southern California, across Mexico, southern Texas and extending into the Gulf of (Mexico),” which may prompt the closure of dozens of coastal and deep-water oceanic air routes over the Pacific and the Gulf, requiring rerouting aircraft to avoid the AHA’s,” according to the agency.

According to the “Purpose and Need” section of the Tiered EA, the purpose of the new Starship operations is “greater mission capability (for) NASA and the Department of Defense.”

SpaceX has a $2.9 billion contract with NASA to develop Starship as a Human Landing System to carry U.S. astronauts to the moon, the mission dubbed “Artemis III.” It would be the first time U.S. astronauts have landed on the lunar surface since 1972.

“SpaceX’s activities would continue to fulfill the U.S. expectation that increased capabilities and reduced space transportation costs will enhance exploration (including within the Artemis and Human Landing System programs), support U.S. national security, and make space access more affordable,” according to the Tiered EA.

Meanwhile, completion of the environmental review process is not a guarantee that the FAA will grant the requested license modification, the FAA said.

To read the entire Tiered EA and submit online comments, go to the Federal E-Rulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov and enter docket number FAA-2025-3124 in the search box.

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