SpaceX tells FAA outdated air traffic control, not rocket production, is its main constraint, citing plans for up to 10,000 launches a year
Why It MattersRising launch cadence is turning shared airspace into a contested resource between space operators and airlines, pushing air traffic control modernisation to the centre of spaceport and corridor policy.
SpaceX has told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that rocket production is no longer its main constraint; outdated air traffic control is. In a 24-page comment dated 26 October and signed by Mat Dunn, its vice president of government affairs, the company answered a DOT/FAA request for information on siting new spaceports and priority airspace for launch corridors (docket FAA-2026-9736).
The filing says SpaceX anticipates conducting 10,000 launches per year itself, compared with what it counts as 182 licensed US launches and 7 licensed reentries in calendar 2025. The FAA projects US launches and re-entries will reach that figure by 2035. SpaceX says its planned Starbase spaceport in Louisiana is designed for approximately 30 launches and reentries per day, and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has said the site alone could handle 10,000 Starship launches a year. The company is targeting its first Starship launch from Louisiana.
SpaceX notes that airspace closures still average just over two hours per launch, while the FAA's own corridor concept expects a normal vertical launch window of less than three minutes. For missions inside a corridor, it is asking for airspace priority, automatic airspace approval within 48 hours of a request, and a waiver of airspace fees. It also wants the FAA to integrate its Space Data Integrator and Cleared, SpaceX's own real-time launch-status and airspace platform, into traffic-flow tools, and says it provides Cleared and its API at no cost to most major US airlines.
Airlines for America, whose members include American, Delta, United, Southwest, FedEx and UPS, filed in the same docket on the same day. Citing the FAA's forecast of a more than 460% rise to 10,000 launches a year by 2035, it said members anticipate serious impacts to their operations, and asked that new spaceports be vetted for their effect on existing airspace users and that the full air traffic control modernisation be delivered in parallel.
Separately, the FAA is pursuing faster licensing, including a proposal to waive requirements under 13 environmental laws for some commercial-space approvals, which addresses paperwork rather than coordination of rockets with airline traffic. The FAA recorded a US-record 204 commercial launch and re-entry operations in fiscal 2025, with SpaceX responsible for 161 of 195 licensed launches. Starship operations have already triggered safety concerns and flight disruptions when failures scattered debris over busy routes.
