SpaceX expansion October 26, 2026 · Florida · Kennedy Space Center

A draft NASA review shows a bigger SpaceX campus at Kennedy Space Center, with a Starship test stand

A draft NASA environmental review shows a bigger SpaceX campus at Kennedy Space Center: a notional 400-acre buildout next to the 167 acres it leases now, a Starship test stand for up to 20 static fires a year, and 3,300 workers by 2045. Not approved yet. WESH and the Orlando Business Journal reported on it Oct. 23.

The Starbase tie: the test stand's noise model is "anchored to both near-field and far-field measurements taken during Starship static fires at the Massey's test site in Starbase, TX," the draft's July 2026 noise study says. The stand would sit "near the western terminus of Schwartz Road," on a 35-acre site.

Also on Schwartz Road: a state wetland permit for "SpaceX Ignition," filed by NASA and SpaceX on Aug. 12, 2026, is still pending with the St. Johns River Water Management District. Updated filings on Oct. 21 and 22 put its wetland impacts at 15.59 acres, direct and secondary, and a mitigation bank reserved credits to offset them on Oct. 22.

Also in Florida: the FAA wants public comments by Friday, Oct. 30 on Blue Origin's bid to raise its New Glenn cap at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36A from 12 to 50 launches a year.

Next: we'll post the water district's decision on the wetland permit when it's made.

Sources: NASA, SpaceX Campus Expansion Preliminary Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment, Oct. 13, 2026 (PDF, 239 pages) · NASA Kennedy, NEPA documents · St. Johns River Water Management District, ePermit project 255688, "SpaceX Ignition" (read Oct. 26, 2026) · WESH, Oct. 23, 2026 · FAA, Blue Origin New Glenn draft environmental assessment (docket FAA-2026-9841) · Blue Origin, Oct. 16, 2026 · Photo: NASA/Ben Smegelsky, KSC-20230421-PH-JBS01_0052 (public domain)