FAA Gives Initial Approval For Additional New Glenn Launches From the Cape
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Blue Origin’s New Glenn NG-3 created a slight vapor cone as it neared the speed of sound after lifting off from the Cape this morning. Photo: Charles Boyer
Blue Origin wants to launch New Glenn as often as once a week from Launch Complex 36, and a federal environmental review released Tuesday says the Space Coast can handle the extra workload.
The Federal Aviation Administration published a Draft Environmental Assessment on Sept. 29 evaluating Blue Origin’s request to modify its launch license, VOL 24-133, to raise the maximum from 12 New Glenn launches per year to 50.
The FAA has preliminarily concluded the increase “would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment.” That puts it on track for a Finding of No Significant Impact rather than a full Environmental Impact Statement.
The Department of the Air Force, NASA and the U.S. Coast Guard served as cooperating agencies. A 30-day public comment period runs through October 30th.
What 50 New Glenn Launches a Year Means for Titusville
Effects drawn from the FAA’s Draft Environmental Assessment for Blue Origin’s LC-36 launch increase
Effect
Details
Directly Stated
Sleep disruption
Late-night launches could wake an estimated 4 percent of people in portions of Titusville, along with Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach. The FAA assumes half of all launches, up to 25 a year, would fall between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Implied by Location
More frequent launch noise
Each launch would sound the same as today, but loud events would go from up to 12 a year to up to 50.
Below the activity-interference level
The review names only Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach as places where launch noise tops 85 decibels. Titusville is not listed.
No structural damage concern
The noise level tied to one damage claim per 1,000 households reaches Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach and parts of Merritt Island and Cocoa. Titusville is not listed.
Compatible with residential use
Averaged over time, noise stays below 60 decibels outside the Cape and KSC, under the FAA’s 65-decibel threshold.
No sonic booms
Booms above 1 pound per square foot would occur only over the Atlantic.
Static fires quieter off site
The flame trench directs static fire noise away from communities, and it stays under 85 decibels outside the Cape and KSC.
Wildlife next door
More launches mean more light and noise across Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge habitat that borders Titusville. The review finds likely adverse effects on scrub-jays, indigo snakes and sea turtles, and launch closures could limit refuge management and monitoring.
Traffic on KSC routes
Large hardware would move more often along Kennedy Parkway, Saturn Causeway and Phillips Parkway between Blue Origin’s Merritt Island factory and the pad. About 15,000 propellant truck deliveries a year would go to the Cape, though the review says personal vehicle traffic won’t affect local roads.
Not Addressed
Local economy
The review does not examine launch tourism, jobs or hotel demand. It says only that employment and income effects would be minimal and positive.
Water supply
The analysis covers the City of Cocoa’s utility, which serves the Cape, not Titusville’s.
Comments due Oct. 30 at regulations.gov, docket FAA-2026-9841 · talkoftitusville.com
Keep in mind, that those effects don’t include SpaceX or its planned Starship launches. This is in addition to that.
In The Big Picture
The FAA evaluated only two options: approve the increase or leave the 12-launch cap in place. The agency says completing the environmental review does not guarantee Blue Origin will receive the license modification, which must still meet safety and financial requirements.
The review puts the proposal in the context of a range that is changing fast. There were 82 launches from the Cape and 27 from KSC in 2025, and the Eastern Range has seen launches grow by more than 1,500 percent since 2011. Space Launch Delta 45 plans about 500 launches a year by 2030, including multiple launches per day.
NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.
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