SpaceX has not yet asked the Federal Aviation Administration to review rocket launches from Vermilion Parish, the agency told The Vermilion Times on Thursday.

“SpaceX has not submitted an application for the FAA to evaluate proposed Starship operations in Louisiana,” the FAA said in a statement emailed in response to the Times’ questions.

The FAA is the federal agency that licenses commercial rocket launches. Before Starship can fly from Pecan Island, the agency has to evaluate the proposed operations, and the FAA’s answer means that process has not started.

Next week’s hearings are about Texas

The Times asked whether SpaceX’s Louisiana site is part of the FAA’s current review of Starship operations, which includes five online public meetings Nov. 17-19 and a comment period that runs through Dec. 7. That review would allow up to 456 launches a year from SpaceX’s Boca Chica site. [Read about it.](/news/faa-starbase-texas-456-launches-gulf-landings-virtual-hearings/)

The answer was no. The meetings “relate to that facility only,” the FAA said, referring to the Texas launch site.

The agency also said it plans to hold in-person meetings once a draft environmental study for the Texas expansion is ready for public review. The materials for next week’s online meetings are posted on the FAA’s project page.

Still unanswered

The FAA’s statement did not address the Times’ questions about whether the Texas plan’s Gulf landing and splashdown zones include waters off Louisiana, or whether the review will consider Louisiana’s coastal communities and commercial fishing. The Times will keep asking.

The timeline so far

Louisiana Economic Development says construction at the Vermilion Parish site should begin by the end of 2027, with the first launch targeted as soon as 2029. LED’s project page says the project “will go through all applicable environmental, wetlands, natural resource and launch-related reviews.”

The Texas review shows what that process looks like once it starts: public meetings and a formal comment period. The Times will report it as soon as SpaceX files for Louisiana.

Follow every development on the Times’ [Starbase Watch page](/starbase/).