ORLANDO, Fla. — Central Florida residents face flight delays, beach closures, and sonic booms in the middle of the night if SpaceX has its way, with plans to launch its powerful Starship and Super Heavy rocket from the Space Coast as many as 120 times a year.

The most dire predictions in two federal reports on the proposal could mean nearly 12,000 delayed commercial flights each year with more than 60 days of denied access to Playalinda Beach on Canaveral National Seashore and half of the launches and landings taking place while residents are asleep.

“Where does the space center program end and the access to the public rights start?” wrote area resident William Gee as part of the public comment period for the proposal. “You’ve constantly taken more and more … We want our kids to be able to enjoy the piece of land we all grew up on before corruption and greed takes over. Shame on all of you in favor.”

At issue is a proposed launch site from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37. SpaceX aims to launch as many as 44 missions from KSC and another 76 from Cape Canaveral, in addition to existing launches of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets from its Space Coast launch pads.

Starship and Super Heavy, though, is the most powerful rocket to ever make it into space. It creates close to 17 million pounds of thrust on liftoff, which is nearly double that of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket used on the Artemis missions.

Flight Disruptions

Both launch site proposals are undergoing intensive Environmental Impact Statements, though the release of final reports could stretch into 2026. While the Canaveral site‘s public comment period is closed, public comment for the KSC site remains open until Sept. 22.

The “community annoyance” of an increased number of launches has been among the most contentious among public comments made so far, as well as during a virtual public hearing earlier this month.

Starship launches will fly out over the Atlantic with airspace closures ranging from 40 minutes to two hours that could affect the Bahamas and Canada in addition to U.S. routes. That could affect 133 to 400 aircraft during peak travel periods and equates to as much as 8,800 commercial flights a year, although half the launches are expected to fall during overnight hours.

But the big potential for airport delays are the frequent returns of Starship, which will fly back for landings similar to how the space shuttle used to return.

That means a west-to-east trajectory that could shut down southbound U.S. as well as international air traffic headed for Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami. It could also affect airspace over Mexico, Central America and Cuba,

Landing approaches would prompt a minimum of 40 minutes and up to one hour of airspace closure, impacting 400 to 600 commercial aircraft during peak daily travel periods, which is from 8,800 to 13,200 per year.

That’s not great news for Orlando International, which already has its hands full juggling delays. The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics ranked Orlando 26th out of the top 30 U.S. airports for delays, noting its flights were on time 74.08% of the time.

“I can confirm that the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority has participated in meetings with the Federal Aviation Administration, which ensures the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System, and is currently reviewing potential impacts,” according to Angela Starke, senior vice president of public affairs for the authority, which oversees both Orlando International Airport and Orlando Executive Airport.

The leadership at Tampa International was much more vocal in their concerns during a virtual meeting held earlier this month.

“There is the potential that there is going to be significant impact to commercial aviation and the traveling public,” said the airport’s Chief Operating Officer John Tiliacos. “That’s something that certainly the FAA needs to give consideration to and, frankly, come up with a plan to mitigate that.”

Among the public comments in the file, one anonymous commenter said more consideration should be the given on the national impact of the closures.

“The impact from current launches already affects commercial air traffic in the Florida Peninsula with extended ground holds and delays, and crews timing out causing a domino effect throughout the system,” the commenter stated. “The number of commercial air travelers directly affected by these delays will grow and so will the disgruntled citizens who will contact their elected representatives to demand something gets done to limit the launches’ impact on their trips. All commercial airports will be affected unlike what is mentioned in the presentation.”

Boom and boom again

The Falcon 9 boosters that currently make recovery landings on the Space Coast prompt sonic boom advisories from SpaceX, noting they could be heard across Central Florida. Recent land recoveries of boosters have had reports of a boom heard as far away as Lake County.

Those boosters are about 130 feet tall with a 12-foot diameter. Starship and Super Heavy combined is nearly 400 feet tall.

“The easiest way to think about it is it’s very similar to a wave on the bow of a ship,” said UCF’s Michael Kinzel, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. “So the bigger the boat, the bigger the wave. So it would create a potentially larger shock wave.”

With half the launches happening during sleeping hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., those bigger, louder booms could be rattling homes on the Space Coast and farther afield as many as 60 times a year during overnight hours for the boosters. And then the Starship returns that fly over Central Florida could also bring smaller sonic booms, but again could be coming during overnight hours, when they might be more noticeable.

“Local communities could be exposed to relatively high-level noise and overpressure environments from the launch and landings of Starship and Super Heavy boosters,” the KSC draft states. “Operations would have significant impact on community annoyance.”

In addition, those closest to the launch sites could be in store for potential damage as the sonic boom pressure intensity for booster landings covers a wider area than those created by the smaller Falcon 9 boosters.

“Noise-induced structural vibration may cause annoyance to building occupants because of induced secondary vibrations, or ‘rattle,’ of objects within the building — hanging pictures, dishes, plaques, and bric-a-brac,” according to the KSC report.

Canaveral landings, which are farther south than KSC, could mean the risk for damage would be higher for residents in the cities of Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, while both launch sites could affect northern Merritt Island, Titusville, Cocoa, Port Saint John and Rockledge.

Both reports stated older structures could see some damage, but the FAA requires under the Commercial Space Launch Act for SpaceX to carry insurance to cover claims.

“If any damage were to occur as a result of sonic booms, it would be expected to be limited to lightweight or brittle structural elements, such as windows and plaster, as massive structural elements such as those that provide structural integrity are affected by noise and sonic booms to a lesser degree,” KSC’s report stated.

Closed for launches

Since it’s farther south, Canaveral launches won’t pose as many closures for publicly-accessible land, although parts of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge would be off-limits.

The launch operations from KSC, though, have a danger zone that stretches up into Canaveral National Seashore, including the popular Playalinda Beach.

Those public places would be shut down during static fires and launch operations, including during scrubbed launches.

Restrictions would last for approximately 3 to 6 hours per event for up to 76 events annually. That means between 33 and 44 full-day closures and another 33 half-day closures, which equates to up to 60.5 “closure days” per year, the KSC report states.

With nearly two months of the year potentially shut down for the popular destination, that could mean an annual fee loss of between $239,000 and $259,000 for the National Park Service.

“This would adversely affect the NPS’s ability to fund projects, staff, and maintain the park; the NPS may consider this significant,” the report states.

While SpaceX awaits the findings of the two environmental reports, it continues to build out launch infrastructure amid a $1.8 billion investment for Starship operations on the Space Coast. SpaceX would not begin any operational missions from Florida until it has worked out issues from its test regime, and would also need an FAA license to launch from either of its planned Space Coast sites.

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