Threatened chicken's mating habits delay spaceflight plan

The mating habits of the lesser prairie chicken have postponed a West Texas city's plans for spaceflight. After the chicken was federally listed in March, the Midland International Airport submitted an addendum to its environmental assessment explaining why the spaceport wouldn’t be a threat to the now “threatened” species.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service, worried about sonic booms negatively impacting the small chicken’s early-morning spring mating habits, has yet to approve the addendum. But Midland Director of Airports Marv Esterly, who offered to send biologists to Andrews County to study how the first five launches would impact the chickens, fully expects the service to sign off and the Federal Aviation Administration to deliver a finding of “no significant impact.”



“They are really sensitive to what’s out there,” Esterly said during Tuesday’s Spaceport Development Corp. meeting. “We feel the sonic boom is so small, so much less than a thunder clap, that it won’t have an effect.” After final approval of the environmental assessment, the FAA has until Sept. 15 to issue a spaceport licence, a process that has taken nearly two years.

Once approved, Midland International will become the first airport in the US to offer commercial and space flights from its runways. “We’re moving forward slowly, at a snail’s pace,” Esterly said. “But it’s a new concept. We’re also setting precedents for airports in the future. Everyone wants to make sure we get it right.”