One of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s largest launch pads is scheduled to be emptied later this year after the final flight of United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy rocket. SpaceX plans to make this vast facility the new home for its Starship launch vehicle.
The environmental review of SpaceX’s proposal to take over Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) is currently underway, with three in-person public meetings and one virtual meeting to gather input from local residents. A meeting is scheduled for March. New website explaining plans.
Federal agencies led by the Department of the Air Force will then assess how Starship’s launch and landing operations will impact the land, air, and water surrounding SLC-37, located on Space Force property in the Atlantic Ocean. We plan to prepare an environmental impact report for this purpose. coastline.
Environmental studies of rocket launch facilities typically take more than a year, so it will be some time before major construction begins to modify SLC-37 for Starship launches. In this case, federal authorities expect to release a draft environmental impact report by December, followed by a final report by October 2025.
More soon, ULA will launch yet another Delta IV Heavy rocket from SLC-37 in March carrying a classified reconnaissance satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. Once the launch is complete, ULA will cease operations at SLC-37 and ultimately turn the facility over to the Space Force, which will seek a new tenant. For months, industry officials have pointed to SpaceX as a likely candidate to take over SLC-37 once ULA completes its launch pad.
But it’s not quite done yet. Last year, a senior ULA official told Ars that the company was interested in maintaining a presence in SLC-37.
ULA’s new Vulcan rocket, which debuted last month and replaces the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets, uses a separate launch pad a few miles upstream from the coast from SLC-37. ULA is upgrading and expanding its ground facilities at Cape Canaveral to increase the pace of Vulcan’s launches, and ULA officials told Ars that the company is building a rocket processing hangar just south of the Delta IV launch pad. He said he may want to continue using it for storage and horizontal processing. Vulcan rocket.
Few details are known about what SpaceX wants to do with SLC-37, but officials wrote on the Environmental Review website that SpaceX will “build existing “modify, reuse, or destroy SLC-37’s infrastructure.”
SLC-37’s history dates back to the 1960s, when NASA used the site for eight flights of Saturn I and Saturn IB rockets in preparation for the Apollo program. This facility remained dormant for 30 years until Boeing moved on to prepare his SLC-37 for the Delta IV rocket. Currently, this rocket has made his 34th flight from his SLC-37. The launch pad currently includes a 100-meter (330-foot)-tall mobile gantry, a fixed erector, a fixed umbilical tower, and a flame trench for the Delta IV mission.
Starship, the world’s largest rocket, has no need for such infrastructure, so if SpaceX takes over the pad, the facility will likely undergo extensive demolition and construction.
If SpaceX is not allowed to use SLC-37, the company could build a brand new launch pad called Space Launch Complex 50. If this is the path SpaceX takes, SLC-50 would be built on undeveloped land north of SLC-37. South of the main launch pad for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 40.
Goodbye LC-49, hello SLC-37
SpaceX’s interest in setting up shop at SLC-37 shows the company is serious about developing a second Starship base on Florida’s Space Coast. In 2022, SpaceX built a launch tower and launch pad for Starship at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. But the company made little progress there last year as the team focused on test flights of Starship out of South Texas.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk says Starship is the rocket that will realize his dream of building a habitation on Mars. He also promoted Starship as a vehicle for travel between points on Earth. Both Starship stages are designed for complete and rapid reuse, with the super heavy booster and Starship upper stage returning to Earth for a propulsion landing. Starship’s launch pad also serves as a landing pad.
Before these dreams can become a reality, Starship needs to get back on track. The first two full-scale Starship test flights last year fell short, but SpaceX moved closer to its goal with its second launch in November. SpaceX hopes to accomplish a near-orbital mission with a third Starship test launch, possibly as early as early March.
Eventually, Musk envisions Starship launching into orbit multiple times a day on a variety of missions, carrying people, satellites and cargo, or refueling tankers. To accomplish this, SpaceX will need a large number of launch pads and landing pads. SpaceX is considering the idea of a floating launch and landing platform, but those plans are on hold.
In the near future, SpaceX plans to build a second Starship launch tower at its Starbase proving ground in Cameron County, Texas. LC-39A also has a partially constructed launch tower, and SpaceX is now setting its sights on SLC-37.
SpaceX previously considered building another Starship launch pad from scratch on NASA’s campus at Kennedy Space Center. NASA is conducting an environmental study of the site, known as Launch Complex 49. Kickoff in 2021. NASA spokeswoman Patty Bieling told Ars on Friday that the agency is no longer working on Launch Complex 49.
“At this time, there is no activity involving LC-49 against Kennedy,” Bieling said. “Previous activities regarding LC-49 have been suspended and no action has been taken.”
One of Starship’s first operational uses will be to serve as the human evaluation lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program. SpaceX is developing a Starship to shuttle astronauts to the moon and back, but in order to reach the moon, Starship will need to refuel in low Earth orbit. This will likely require him to make more than 10 refueling flights using a version of Starship called Tanker, all to be launched within a few weeks. These tanker flights depart on super-large boosters from bases in Texas and Florida.
In parallel with Starship’s continued test flights and demonstration of in-space refueling technology, SpaceX will need to build more launch pads to make all of this possible. SpaceX has backed away from some of its Starship launch pad ideas, but its interest in SLC-37 suggests the company still has big plans for Starship in Florida.
