On March 16, 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration released a notice of availability and request for comment for its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for proposed Spaceport Camden. The FAA will also hold two days of public hearings. The Camden County Board of Commissioners is applying for a license to operate a launch site on the coast of Georgia bordering northeast Florida.
Any person who plans to operate a launch site in the United States must first obtain a license to do so under the Commercial Space Launch Act, 51 U.S.C. ch. 509, and its implementing regulations. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when the U.S. Government engages in a major federal action it must perform an environmental review of the proposed action. Issuing a license is a major federal action under NEPA, which means that an applicant for a license to operate a spaceport must provide the FAA sufficient information for the agency to prepare an EIS. Now that it has a draft, EIS the FAA seeks input:
Under the Proposed Action, the FAA would issue a Launch Site Operator License to the County. The license would allow the County to offer Spaceport Camden to commercial launch operators to conduct launches of liquid-fueled, small to medium-large lift-class, orbital and suborbital vertical launch vehicles. The license would allow up to 12 vertical launches and up to 12 associated launch vehicle first- stage landings per year. In support of the launches, there would be up to 12 wet dress rehearsals and up to 12 static fire engine tests per year. All vehicles would launch to the east, from between 83 degrees (slightly north of due east) and 115 degrees (approximately east southeast), over the Intracoastal Waterway, Cumberland Island National Seashore and/or Little Cumberland Island, and the Atlantic Ocean. The Proposed Action includes possible recovery of the first stage by either landing the stage at Spaceport Camden or landing the stage on a barge approximately 200 to 300 miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean and returning it to Spaceport Camden. Alternatives under consideration in the Draft EIS include the Proposed Action, an Ocean-Landing Only Alternative (similar to the Proposed Action except first-stage landings would only occur on a barge approximately 200 to 300 miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean), and the No Action Alternative.
Public hearings: April 11 and 12, 2018
Comments due by: May 16, 2018