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Active launch pads

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SpaceX Cape Canaveral Launch Control Center in 2010

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

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Falcon 9, Flight 3, above SpaceX Cape Canaveral launch complex, May 2012.

In 2007, the US Air Force leased Cape Canaveral SLC-40 to SpaceX to launch the Falcon 9 rocket.[1] During April 2008, construction started on the ground facilities necessary to support the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Renovations included installation of new liquid oxygen and kerosene tanks and construction of a hangar for rocket and payload preparation.

The first Falcon 9 rocket arrived at SLC-40 in late 2008, and was first erected on January 10, 2009.[2] It successfully reached orbit on its maiden launch on June 4, 2010, carrying a dummy payload qualification unit. SpaceX modified the launch pad in 2013 in order to support launches of the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle, a 60 percent heavier rocket with 60 percent more thrust on realigned engines[3] and 60 percent longer fuel tank than the v1.0 version of the Falcon 9, requiring a modified transporter/erector.[4]

In September 2016, the pad was damaged when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded during liquid oxygen loading in preparation for a hot-fire test.[5] The pad was repaired and used for the first time since the explosion in the SpaceX CRS-13 mission in December 2017.[6]

Kennedy Space Center

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Robert D. Cabana, director of KSC, announces the signing of the LC-39A lease agreement on April 14, 2014.

In December 2013, NASA and SpaceX were in negotiations for SpaceX to lease Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after SpaceX was selected in a multi-company bid process, following NASA's decision in early 2013 to lease the unused complex out as part of a bid to reduce annual operation and maintenance costs of unused government facilities.[7] The SpaceX bid was for exclusive use of the launch complex to support their future crewed missions,[8] but SpaceX said in September 2013 that they are also willing to support a multi-user arrangement for LC-39A,[9] and they reiterated that position in December 2013.[10]

A competing bid for commercial use of the launch complex was submitted by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, who bid for a shared non-exclusive use of the complex such that the launchpad can interface with multiple vehicles, and costs of pad operational expenses could be shared over the long term. One potential shared user in the Blue Origin notional plan was with United Launch Alliance.[8] In September 2013—prior to completion of the bid period, and prior to any public announcement by NASA of the results of the process—Blue Origin filed a protest with the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) over what it said was "a plan by NASA to award an exclusive commercial lease to SpaceX for use of mothballed space shuttle launch LC-39A."[11] NASA planned to complete the bid award and have the pad transferred by October 1, 2013, but the protest delayed a decision until after the GAO resolved the protest.[11] Following the eruption of the controversy, on September 21, SpaceX said that they were willing to support a multi-user arrangement for LC-39A.[12][9] In December 2013, the GAO denied the protest and sided with NASA, which argued that the solicitation contains no preference on the use of the facility as multi-use or single-use. "The [solicitation] document merely asks bidders to explain their reasons for selecting one approach instead of the other and how they would manage the facility."[13]

SpaceX began architectural and engineering design work on the pad modifications in 2013, and signed the contractual documents to lease the pad for 20 years[14] from NASA in April 2014.[15] SpaceX is building a large Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) just outside the perimeter of the existing launch pad in order to "house the Falcon [rockets] and associated hardware and payloads during processing."[16] This is a marked difference from the vertical integration facility used by previous US government rockets that used the launch pad (Apollo Program and the Space Shuttle)—plus the installation of all new instrumentation and control systems, with substantial new plumbing for a variety of rocket liquids and gasses.[14]

The Falcon rockets will be transported from the HIF to the launch pad aboard a Transporter Erector (TE) which will ride on rails up the former crawlerway path.[16] In February 2016, it was reported that the pad was completed and activated indicating it is ready for launches of Falcon 9 Full Thrust.[17] The first SpaceX launch from LC-39A occurred in February 2017, followed by a successful first-stage landing at Landing Zone 1. Further work will be needed to support Falcon Heavy and crewed launches which is expected to take at least 60 days and is currently planned to occur after Cape Canaveral LC-40 is back in operation, not earlier than October 2017.[18] SpaceX's first crewed space missions are expected to launch in 2019 from the Kennedy LC-39A launch pad.

In April 2018, SpaceX completed a draft environmental assessment for a new facility "that would include a booster processing hangar and launch control center on 67 acres (27 ha) of KSC property" to support a faster flight rate of "Falcon rockets, including processing of landed booster stages and recovered payload fairings for reuse."[19]

Vandenberg Air Force Base

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SpaceX west coast launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, during the launch of CASSIOPE, September 2013.

SpaceX operate a West Coast launch site located at Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 4 in order to deliver satellites to polar or Sun-synchronous orbits with Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches.

SpaceX broke ground at Vandenberg in July 2011.[20][21] A 2011 estimate showed that the project was expected to cost between $20 to $30 million for the first 24 months of construction and operation; thereafter, operational costs were expected to be $5–10 million per year. The sixth flight of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle launched in September 2013, which was the maiden flight of Falcon 9 v1.1.[12] The site was used for a second time in January 2016 for the Jason-3 launch (which was the last flight of Falcon 9 v1.1) and for a third time in January 2017 for the first of the Iridium Next launches.

  1. ^ Kelly, John (April 25, 2007). "SpaceX cleared for Cape launches". Florida Today. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  2. ^ Shanklin, Emily (January 12, 2009). "SpaceX's Falcon 9 on Launch Pad at Cape Canaveral". SpaceX.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  3. ^ "Falcon 9's commercial promise to be tested in 2013". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  4. ^ Klotz, Irene (2013-09-06). "Musk Says SpaceX Being "Extremely Paranoid" as It Readies for Falcon 9's California Debut". Space News. Archived from the original on 2013-09-22. Retrieved 2013-09-13.
  5. ^ "SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, satellite destroyed in explosion". Florida Today. Archived from the original on 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  6. ^ Gebhardt, Chris (December 6, 2017). "SLC-40 comes back to life with CRS-13 static fire campaign". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  7. ^ "SpaceX to bid for rights to historic NASA launch pad". Phys.org. 2013-12-13. Archived from the original on 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  8. ^ a b Matthews, Mark K. (2013-08-18). "Musk, Bezos fight to win lease of iconic NASA launchpad". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  9. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (2013-09-21). "A minor kerfuffle over LC-39A letters". Space Politics. Archived from the original on 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  10. ^ Boyle, Alan (2013-12-13). "SpaceX wins NASA's nod to take over historic Launch LC-39A". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  11. ^ a b Messier, Doug (2013-09-10). "Blue Origin Files Protest Over Lease on LC-39A". Parabolic Arc. Archived from the original on 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  12. ^ a b Clark, Stephen (2013-10-18). "SpaceX says robust market can support four launch pads". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-10-27.
  13. ^ Messier, Doug (2013-12-12). "Blue Origin Loses GAO Appeal Over LC-39A Bid Process". Parabolic Arc. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  14. ^ a b Dean, James (2014-04-15). "With nod to history, SpaceX gets launch LC-39A OK". Florida Today. Archived from the original on 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  15. ^ "NASA signs over historic Launch Pad 39A to SpaceX". collectSpace. 2014-04-14. Archived from the original on 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2014-11-19.
  16. ^ a b Bergin, Chris (2014-11-18). "Pad 39A – SpaceX laying the groundwork for Falcon Heavy debut". NASA Spaceflight. Archived from the original on 2014-11-19. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  17. ^ Jeff Foust (February 4, 2016). "SpaceX seeks to accelerate Falcon 9 production and launch rates this year". Space News. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  18. ^ "Launch operators expect minimal delays from Hurricane Irma – Spaceflight Now". spaceflightnow.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-09-30.
  19. ^ SpaceX proposing expansion of Florida launch processing facilities, 11 June 2018, accessed 12 June 2018.
  20. ^ Robbins, Rebecca (2011-07-15). "Men to Mars from Vandenberg?". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  21. ^ Reisinger, Don (2011-07-15). "SpaceX breaks ground on Falcon Heavy launch site". CNET. Archived from the original on 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
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