SpaceX is preparing for a future with more Starship launches from Florida’s Space Coast, and that could include a new 32-mile natural gas pipeline through Brevard County.
A SpaceX subsidiary, Coastal Connect Services, has proposed a 32.4-mile pipeline that would connect with the existing Florida Gas Transmission system and deliver natural gas toward SpaceX operations at Cape Canaveral.
The company says the pipeline is needed because of the enormous amount of methane required to fuel Starship.
According to filings with the Florida Public Service Commission, SpaceX says hundreds of truckloads of liquefied natural gas could be needed for a single launch. The company says relying on trucks would not provide the volume or reliability it expects to need as Starship launches increase.
The Florida Public Service Commission considered the company’s proposal this week. The commission’s role involves regulation of the natural gas transportation service and its rates, rather than serving as the environmental approval for construction of the entire pipeline.
The project comes as SpaceX is also pursuing plans for significantly more Starship activity from Cape Canaveral.
The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing a proposal that could allow up to 76 Starship/Super Heavy launches and as many as 152 booster and spacecraft landings each year from Space Launch Complex 37.
That rapid expansion is drawing concern from environmental advocates who have questioned how increasingly frequent and powerful launches — along with the infrastructure needed to support them — could affect sensitive habitat surrounding the Cape.
Much of the Space Coast’s launch infrastructure sits near protected areas and wildlife habitat, including the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
SpaceX argues the pipeline would reduce its reliance on large numbers of tanker trucks while providing the fuel supply necessary for future launches.
For environmental advocates, the pipeline represents another part of a larger debate already playing out along the Space Coast: how to accommodate a rapidly growing commercial space industry while protecting the environment surrounding it.