Cape Canaveral and adjacent Merritt Island on Florida's Atlantic coast are home to two American spaceports, one civilian and one military, servicing several active launch sites.
Kennedy Space Center, operated by NASA, has two launch complexes on Merritt Island comprising four pads—two active, one under lease, and one inactive. From 1968–1975, it was the site of 13 Saturn V launches, three crewed Skylab flights and the Apollo-Soyuz; all Space Shuttle flights from 1981 to 2011, and one Ares 1-X flight in 2009. Since 2017, SpaceX use Launch Complex 39A to launch their launch vehicles.
Site | Status | Uses |
---|---|---|
Launch Complex 39A | Active Owned by NASA, Leased to SpaceX |
Current: Falcon Heavy, Falcon 9 Block 5 Prior: Saturn V, Space Shuttle Future: Starship |
Launch Complex 39B | Active[1] Owned by NASA |
Prior: Saturn V, Saturn IB (Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz), Space Shuttle Future: Space Launch System |
Launch Complex 39C | Inactive Owned by NASA |
|
Launch Complex 48 | Inactive Owned by NASA |
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), operated by the 45th Space Wing of the U.S. Space Force, was the site of all U.S. crewed launches before Apollo 8, as well as many other early Department of Defense (DoD) and NASA launches. For the DoD, it plays a secondary role to Vandenberg AFB in California, but is the launch site for many NASA uncrewed space probes, as those spacecraft are typically launched on United States Space Force launchers. Much of the support activity for CCSFS occurs at Patrick Space Force Base to the south, its reporting base.
Active launch vehicles are in bold.
Site | Status | Uses |
---|---|---|
Launch Complex 13 (Landing Zone 1 and 2) |
Active - Leased to SpaceX | Current: Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy first stage landing site[2] Prior: Atlas, Atlas Agena |
Space Launch Complex 37B | Active - Used by United Launch Alliance | Current: Delta IV Heavy Prior: Saturn I, Saturn IB, Delta IV Medium |
Space Launch Complex 40 | Active - Leased to SpaceX | Current: Falcon 9 Block 5 Prior: Titan III, Titan IV, Falcon 9 v1.0, Falcon 9 1.1 |
Space Launch Complex 41 | Active - Used by United Launch Alliance | Current: Atlas V Prior: Titan III, Titan IV Future: Vulcan |
Launch Complex 47 | Active (has been unused for some time) | Current: Rocketsonde Sounding Rocket and Super Loki |
As of 2008[update], Air Force Space Command committed to lease Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 36 to Space Florida for future use by the Athena III launch system.[4] It is not known if the plan was subsequently implemented.[needs update] Blue Origin leased Complex 36 in 2015, with plans to launch its reusable orbital vehicle from there by 2020.[5]
Site | Status | Uses |
---|---|---|
Space Launch Complex 36A | Undergoing renovation - Leased to Blue Origin[5] | Previous: Atlas/Centaur,[4])Atlas II[citation needed] Future: New Glenn[5] |
Space Launch Complex 36B | Undergoing renovation - Leased to Blue Origin[5] | Previous: Atlas, Atlas II, Atlas III Future: New Glenn[5] |
Space Launch Complex 46 | Active[6][7] | Previous: Athena, Trident II,[8] Future: Minotaur IV,[9] |
Site | Status | Uses |
---|---|---|
Atlantic Missile Range drop zone | Inactive | High Virgo, Bold Orion, Hound Dog, Skybolt |
Grand Turk Auxiliary AFB, Grand Turk Island drop zone | Inactive | Arcas (All-Purpose Rocket for Collecting Atmospheric Soundings) |
Mobile Launch Area | Inactive | Lark, Matador, Snark[10] |
Eastern SLBM Launch Area | Active | Polaris, Poseidon, Trident |
Shuttle Landing Facility | Active | Pegasus, X-37B |
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip | Active | Navaho, Pegasus, Pegasus XL |
Patrick SFB | Inactive | Matador |