As it currently stands, SpaceX only possesses a license for suborbital flights.
Before a license can be approved, the FAA needs to conduct an environmental review of the launch site and plans to ensure launches won’t have a significant negative impact on the surrounding area.
The news comes after SpaceX recently landed itself in hot water after it was found that the December SN8 launch reportedly ignored at least two warnings from the FAA before the prototype exploded.
“These actions show a concerning lack of operational control and process discipline that is inconsistent with a strong safety culture,” FAA’s Space Division Chief Wayne Monteith wrote in a letter to Shotwell.