Adoption of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Environmental Assessment (EA) for Launch of NASA Routine Payloads on Expendable Launch Vehicles, November 2011 ; NASA Routine Payload EA ;

This Final Environmental Assessment updates the Final Environmental Assessment for Launch of NASA Routine Payloads on Expendable Launch Vehicles from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (June 2002) and addresses NASA's proposed action to launch a variety of spacecraft missions. The spacecraft used in these missions are considered routine payloads; the same threshold quantities and characteristics describe them all, and they would present no new or substantial environmental impacts or hazards as compared to previously analyzed and documented impacts. These scientific and technology demonstration missions are needed for U.S. space and Earth exploration. All spacecraft (referred to as NASA routine payloads [NRP]) examined in this environmental assessment would meet rigorously defined criteria to ensure that the spacecraft and their launch and operation would not present any new or substantial environmental or safety concerns. The NRPs would launch from existing launch facilities (or those currently under construction) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida; Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands; NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia; and Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska. National Environmental Policy Act documentation exists that analyzes the potential environmental impacts at each of these launch sites for the evaluated launch vehicles.

Professional Paper

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)