A new report finds that NASA’s infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center, the crown jewel of US space ports, is aging and approaching its limits due to increasing demand from private companies including SpaceX and Blue Origin.
“NASA’s launch infrastructure is critical to providing the agency, other government agencies, and commercial partners access to space for their most complex and expensive missions,” said the report published by NASA’s Office of the Inspector General. “Yet, NASA’s launch infrastructure is aging and often does not provide the capacity to meet the growing demands of the agency and its partners.”
The report covers NASA’s launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. However, the most notable information in the report concerns the Florida spaceport, where demand for SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch vehicles is expected to put pressure on NASA.
Roads and gas lines
NASA only has a few launch pads at Kennedy. Launch Complex 39A is currently leased by SpaceX for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches, and also has a new launch facility that will soon support Starship launches. Launch Complex 39B is home to NASA’s Space Launch System rockets, and Launch Complex 39C is not used due to its proximity to this pad. Finally, NASA has built a 10-acre site, Launch Complex 48, which it can lease to small launch vehicle companies.
The space agency’s neighbor to the south, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, has several more pads. It includes Launch Complexes 36A and 36B, leased to Blue Origin for the New Glenn rocket.
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