NASA’s infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center, the crown jewel of US spaceports, is aging and nearing its limit due to increased demand from private companies including SpaceX and Blue Origin, a new report finds.
“NASA’s launch infrastructure is critical to providing access to space for the agency’s, other government agencies and commercial partners’ most complex and expensive missions,” said a report released by NASA’s Office of Inspector General. “However, NASA’s launch infrastructure is aging and often unable to meet the growing demands of the agency and its partners.”
The report covers launch facilities at NASA’s 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 launchers is expected to stress NASA.
Roads and gas lines
NASA has only 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 pad that will soon support Starship launches. Launch Complex 39B is home to NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, and Launch Complex 39C is unused due to its proximity to this platform. Eventually, NASA built a 10-acre site, Launch Complex 48, that it could lease to small rocket launch companies.
The space agency’s neighbor to the south, the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, has more pads. This includes Launch Complex 36A and 36B, which are leased to Blue Origin for the New Glenn rocket.
