Florida Today reported on October 22, 2026, that SpaceX hoped to launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A by the end of 2026. The flight plan described by SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev called for an attempted tower catch of the Super Heavy booster, followed by an eight- or nine-hour Starship flight toward a landing at Starbase, Texas.
What the reported flight plan calls for
The plan assigns a different role to each stage. Teams would try to catch the Super Heavy booster with the launch tower’s chopstick arms at Launch Complex 39A. The Starship upper stage would make about six orbits of Earth over eight or nine hours, carry out payload deployment and other mission work, then target a landing at Starbase.
How SpaceX planned to prepare the vehicles
The vehicles were to be built in Texas and carried horizontally by barge around Florida to Port Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center Turn Basin. From there, the plan was to move them through Gigabay, raise them vertically for processing, and transfer them to the launch pad.
Dontchev described the launch infrastructure at Launch Complex 39A as effectively complete. Gigabay’s doors were still due to be installed.
What the FAA decided about Launch Complex 39A
On January 29, 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) selected its preferred environmental alternative for the proposed Starship-Super Heavy operations at Launch Complex 39A. The FAA’s Record of Decision (ROD) says that completing the environmental review does not guarantee a vehicle-operator license. Licensing has separate safety, risk and indemnification requirements. The FAA’s ROD records the environmental decision and its scope.
The FAA evaluated a proposal for up to 44 Starship-Super Heavy launches per year, up to 44 Super Heavy landings per year and up to 44 Starship landings per year. Those figures describe the proposal assessed in the environmental review.
The FAA’s Final Environmental Impact Statement identified unavoidable significant direct and indirect effects under its preferred alternative involving noise and noise-compatible land use, air quality, and airspace transportation. The ROD also sets out avoidance, minimization, mitigation and monitoring measures.
The expected Falcon 9 pause
Dontchev also expected a six-week gap in Cape-area Falcon 9 launches while teams prepared for Starship, according to Florida Today’s account of his remarks.
