Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
EDT ) | |
Short name | LC-39 |
---|---|
Established | 1962 |
Operator | |
Total launches | 235 (13 Saturn V, 4 Saturn IB, 135 Shuttle, 1 Ares I, 72 Falcon 9, 9 Falcon Heavy, 1 Space Launch System) |
Launch pad(s) | 3 |
Pad 39A launch history | |
Status | Active |
Launches | 175 (12 Saturn V, 82 Shuttle, 72 Falcon 9, 9 Falcon Heavy) |
First launch | November 9, 1967 Saturn V SA-501 |
Last launch | April 17, 2024 Falcon 9 Block 5 / Starlink G6-51 |
Associated rockets |
|
Pad 39B launch history | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Launches | 60 (1 Saturn V, 4 Saturn IB, 53 Shuttle, 1 Ares I-X, 1 SLS) |
First launch | May 18, 1969 Saturn V SA-505 |
Last launch | November 16, 2022 Space Launch System / Artemis 1 |
Associated rockets |
|
Pad 39C launch history | |
---|---|
Status | Inactive |
Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a
Launch Complex 39 consists of three launch sub-complexes or "pads"—
SpaceX leases Launch Complex 39A from NASA and has modified the pad to support Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches.[4][5] NASA began modifying Launch Complex 39B in 2007 to accommodate the now defunct Constellation program, and is currently prepared for the Artemis program,[6][7] which was first launched in November 2022.[8] A pad to be designated 39C, which would have been a copy of pads 39A and 39B, was originally planned for Apollo but never built. A smaller pad, also designated 39C, was constructed from January to June 2015, to accommodate small-lift launch vehicles.[9]
NASA launches from pads 39A and 39B have been supervised from the NASA
History
Early history
Northern Merritt Island was first developed around 1890 when a few wealthy Harvard University graduates purchased 18,000 acres (73 km2) and constructed a three-story mahogany clubhouse, very nearly on the site of Pad 39A.[10] During the 1920s, Peter E. Studebaker Jr., son of the automobile magnate, built a small casino at De Soto Beach eight miles (13 km) north of the Canaveral lighthouse.[11]
In 1948, the Navy transferred the former Banana River Naval Air Station, located south of Cape Canaveral, to the Air Force for use in testing captured German V-2 rockets.[12] The site's location on the East Florida coast was ideal for this purpose, in that launches would be over the ocean, away from populated areas. This site became the Joint Long Range Proving Ground in 1949 and was renamed Patrick Air Force Base in 1950 and Patrick Space Force Base in 2020. The Air Force annexed part of Cape Canaveral, to the north, in 1951, forming the Air Force Missile Test Center, the future Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). Missile and rocketry testing and development would take place here through the 1950s.[13]
After the creation of NASA in 1958, the CCAFS launch pads were used for NASA's civilian uncrewed and crewed launches, including those of Project Mercury and Project Gemini.[14]
Apollo and Skylab
In 1961, President Kennedy proposed to Congress the goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. Congressional approval led to the launch of the Apollo program, which required a massive expansion of NASA operations, including an expansion of launch operations from the Cape to adjacent Merritt Island to the north and west.[15] NASA began acquisition of land in 1962, taking title to 131 square miles (340 km2) by outright purchase and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional 87 square miles (230 km2). On July 1, 1962, the site was named the Launch Operations Center.[16]
Initial design
The need for a new launch complex was first considered in 1961. At the time, the highest-numbered launch pad at CCAFS was Launch Complex 37. A proposed Launch Complex 38 had been set aside for the future expansion of the Atlas-Centaur program, but ultimately never built.[17] The new complex was thus designated Launch Complex 39.
The method of reaching the Moon had not yet been decided. The two leading alternatives were direct ascent, which launched a single huge rocket; and Earth orbit rendezvous, where two or more launches of smaller rockets would place several parts of the lunar departure spacecraft which would be assembled in orbit. The former would require a huge Nova-class launcher and pads, while the latter would require several rockets to be launched in quick succession. Furthermore, the selection of the actual rockets was still ongoing; NASA was proposing the Nova design while their newly-acquired former Army group in Huntsville Alabama had proposed a series of slightly smaller designs known as Saturn.[18]
This complicated the design of the launch complex, as it had to encompass two very different possibilities and rockets. Accordingly, early designs from 1961 show two sets of launch pads. The first was a series of three pads for Saturn along
The final selection of lunar orbit rendezvous and the Saturn V led to numerous changes. The Nova pads disappeared, and the three Saturn pads were moved southward. The southernmost was now at the current location of Pad A, while the northernmost was located between Patrol Road, the current boundary road for the LC39 site, and Playlandia Beach Road on the north. At the time, the original three were named from north to south: Pad A through Pad C.[19] The pads were evenly spaced 8,700 feet (2,700 m) apart to avoid damage in the event of an explosion on a pad.
In March 1963, plans were formalized to build only two of the three pads; the northernmost, furthest from the VAB, would not be built but reserved for future expansion. As the original Pad A would no longer be built, the naming was changed to run south-to-north, so that the two pads that would be built would be A and B. If the original 39A at the north end were ever built, it would now be known as 39C.
Some consideration for C's construction was made: the Crawlerway initially splits off from A toward B running north-northwest, and then bends north toward B a short distance north at Cochran Cove. Continuing straight north-northeast would have led to C after a similar northward bend. The original construction of the Crawlerway included an interchange between B and a short part of the extension northward for C, which remains intact as of 2022[update], and the traffic-light warning system for the Crawlerway has lights for Pad C.
The plans still set aside room for the remaining two pads, now known as D and E. Pad D would have been built due west of Pad C, some distance inland along Patrol Road. Access to D would have branched off westward from the crawlerway at the point where C's crawlerway turned north. Pad E would have continued the line of pads along the coast, north of C near
Integration of space vehicle stack
Months before a launch, the three stages of the
The umbilical tower contained two elevators and nine retractable swing arms that were extended to the space vehicle—to provide access to each of the three rocket stages and the spacecraft for people, wiring, and plumbing—while the vehicle was on the launch pad and were swung away from the vehicle at launch.
Early diagrams of the proposed layout also included the Nuclear Assembly Building, NAB, northeast of the VAB. These would be used to prepare the nuclear rocket engines being developed under the NERVA program, before moving them to the VAB for assembly into a rocket stack. This program was cancelled and the NAB was not built.[24]
Transportation to the pad
When the stack integration was completed, the Mobile Launcher was moved atop one of two crawler-transporters, or Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities, 3–4 miles (4.8–6.4 km) to its pad at a speed of 1 mile per hour (1.6 km/h). Each crawler weighed 6,000,000 pounds (2,720 t) and was capable of keeping the space vehicle and its launcher platform level while negotiating the 5 percent grade to the pad. At the pad, the ML was placed on six steel pedestals, plus four additional extensible columns.[21]
Mobile Service Structure
After the ML was set in place, the crawler-transporter rolled a 410-foot (125 m), 10,490,000-pound (4,760 t) Mobile Service Structure (MSS) into place to provide further access for technicians to perform a detailed checkout of the vehicle, and to provide necessary umbilical connections to the pad. The MSS contained three elevators, two self-propelled platforms, and three fixed platforms. It was rolled back 6,900 feet (2,100 m) to a parking position shortly before launch.[21]
Flame deflector
While the ML was sat on its launch pedestals, one of two flame deflectors was slid on rails into place under it. Having two deflectors allowed for one to be used while the other was being refurbished after a previous launch. Each deflector measured 39 feet (12 m) high by 49 feet (15 m) wide by 75 feet (23 m) long, and weighed 1,400,000 pounds (635 t). During a launch, it deflected the launch vehicle's rocket exhaust flame into a trench measuring 43 feet (13 m) deep by 59 feet (18 m) wide by 449 feet (137 m) long.[21]
Launch control and fueling
The four-story Launch Control Center (LCC) was located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) away from Pad A, adjacent to the Vehicle Assembly Building, for safety. The third floor had four firing rooms (corresponding to the four bays in the VAB), each with 470 sets of control and monitoring equipment.[clarification needed] The second floor contained telemetry, tracking, instrumentation, and data reduction computing equipment. The LCC was connected to the Mobile Launcher Platforms by a high-speed data link; and during launch a system of 62 closed-circuit television cameras transmitted to 100 monitor screens in the LCC.[21]
Large cryogenic tanks located near the pads stored the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) for the second and third stages of the Saturn V. The highly explosive nature of these chemicals required numerous safety measures at the launch complex. The pads were located 8,730 feet (2,660 m) away from each other.[21] Before tanking operations began and during launch, non-essential personnel were excluded from the danger area.
Emergency evacuation system
Each pad had a 200-foot (61 m) evacuation tube running from the Mobile Launcher platform to a blast-resistant bunker 39 feet (12 m) underground, nicknamed Rubber room, equipped with survival supplies for 20 persons for 24 hours and reachable through a high-speed elevator.[25]
A further Emergency Egress System was installed to allow fast escape of crew or technicians from pad in case of imminent catastrophic failure of the rocket.[26] The system included seven baskets suspended from seven slidewires that extended from the fixed service structure to a landing zone 370 meters (1,200 ft) to the west. Each basket could hold up to three people, which slid down the wire reaching up to 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph), eventually reaching a gentle stop by means of a braking system catch net and drag chain which slowed and then halted the baskets.
The system was dismantled in 2012, as seen in this video.
Pad Terminal Connection Room
Connections between the
Apollo and Skylab launches
The first launch from Launch Complex 39 came in 1967 with the first Saturn V launch, which carried the uncrewed Apollo 4 spacecraft. The second uncrewed launch, Apollo 6, also used Pad 39A. With the exception of Apollo 10, which used Pad 39B (due to the "all-up" testing resulting in a 2-month turnaround period), all crewed Apollo-Saturn V launches, commencing with Apollo 8, used Pad 39A.
A total of thirteen Saturn Vs were launched for Apollo, including the uncrewed launch of the
Space Shuttle
The thrust to allow the Space Shuttle to achieve orbit was provided by a combination of the
The payload to be installed at the launch pad was independently transported in a payload transportation canister and then installed vertically at the Payload Changeout Room. Otherwise, payloads would have already been pre-installed at the Orbiter Processing Facility and transported within the orbiter's cargo bay.
The original structure of the pads was remodeled for the needs of the Space Shuttle, starting with Pad 39A after the last Saturn V launch, and, in 1977, that of Pad 39B after the Apollo–Soyuz in 1975. The first usage of the pad for the Space Shuttle came in 1979, when Enterprise was used to check the facilities prior to the first operational launch.
Service structures
Each pad contained a two-piece access tower system, the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) and the Rotating Service Structure (RSS). The FSS permitted access to the Shuttle via a retractable arm and a "beanie cap" to capture vented LOX from the external tank.
Sound Suppression Water System
A Sound Suppression Water System (SSWS) was added to protect the Space Shuttle and its payload from effects of the intense sound wave pressure generated by its engines. An elevated water tank on a 290-foot (88 m) tower near each pad stored 300,000 U.S. gallons (1,100,000 liters) of water, which was released onto the mobile launcher platform just before engine ignition.[31] The water muffled the intense sound waves produced by the engines. Due to heating of the water, a large quantity of steam and water vapor was produced during launch.
Swing arm modifications
The Gaseous Oxygen Vent Arm positioned a hood, often called the "Beanie Cap", over the top of the external tank (ET) nose cone during fueling.[when?] Heated gaseous nitrogen was used there to remove the extremely cold gaseous oxygen that normally vented out of the external tank. This prevented the formation of ice that could fall and damage the shuttle.[32]
The Hydrogen Vent Line Access Arm mated the External Tank's
Emergency pad evacuation equipment
The launch complex was equipped with a slidewire escape basket system for quick evacuation. Assisted by members of the closeout team, the crew would leave the orbiter and ride an emergency basket to the ground at speeds reaching up to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h).[34] From there, the crew took shelter in a bunker.
The pad fire station operated a fleet of four modified M113A2 Firefighting Vehicles, a variant of the M113 APC. Painted in a neon green rescue livery, these vehicles provided viable transportation to rescue personnel and firefighters should they need to approach the pad during a launch emergency. They could also be used to safely evacuate astronauts and crew from the vicinity of the pad. During launches, two manned APCs would be stationed less than a mile from the launch pad (holding firefighters at-the-ready), one unmanned would be stationed on the pad (for extra evacuation capacity), and the fourth provided a backup at the fire station.[35][36]
During the launch of Discovery on
Space Shuttle launches
After the launch of
Just as for the first 24 shuttle flights, LC-39A supported the final shuttle flights, starting with STS-117 in June 2007 and ending with the retirement of the Shuttle fleet in July 2011. Prior to the SpaceX lease agreement, the pad remained as it was when Atlantis launched on the final shuttle mission on July 8, 2011, complete with a mobile launcher platform.
After Space Shuttle retirement
With the
Talks for use of the pad were underway between NASA and
Constellation program
The Constellation program planned to use LC-39A for uncrewed Ares V launches and LC-39B for crewed Ares I launches. In preparation for this, NASA began modifying LC-39B to support Ares I launches with 39A planned to be modified in the mid 2010s for Ares V launches. Prior to Ares I-X, the last Shuttle launch from pad 39B was the nighttime launch of STS-116 on December 9, 2006. To support the final Shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope STS-125 launched from pad 39A in May 2009, Endeavour was placed on 39B if needed to launch the STS-400 rescue mission.
After the completion of STS-125, 39B was converted to launch the single test flight of the Constellation Program Ares I-X on October 28, 2009.[44] Pad 39B was then planned to have the FSS and RSS removed in preparation for Ares I. However, in 2010, the Constellation program was cancelled.
SpaceX
This article or section may need to be cleaned up or summarized because it has been split from/to Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A#SpaceX. |
By early 2013, NASA publicly announced that it would allow commercial launch providers to lease LC-39A,[45] and followed that, in May 2013, with a formal solicitation for proposals for commercial use of the pad.[46]
There were two competing bids for the commercial use of the launch complex.
On April 14, 2014, the privately owned launch service provider
Modifications
In 2015, SpaceX built the Horizontal Integration Facility just outside the perimeter of the existing launch pad in order to house both the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy rockets, and their associated hardware and payloads, during preparation for flight.[54] Both types of launch vehicles 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.[43][54] Also in 2015, the launch mount for the Falcon Heavy was constructed on Pad 39A over the existing infrastructure.[55][56] The work on both the HIF building and the pad was substantially complete by late 2015.[57] A rollout test of the new Transporter Erector was conducted in November 2015.[58]
In February 2016, SpaceX indicated that they had "completed and activated Launch Complex 39A",
In 2018, SpaceX made further modifications to LC 39A to prepare it to accommodate it for the crew Dragon 2 mission. These modifications included installing a new crew access arm,[63] refurbishing the emergency egress slidewire system, and raising it up to the level of the new arm. The LC 39A fixed service structure was also repainted during this work.
In 2019, SpaceX began substantial modification to LC 39A in order to begin work on phase 1 of the construction to prepare the facility to launch
In 2021, SpaceX began construction of an orbital launch pad for Starship at 39A.[64] As of early 2023, the new launch pad is still undergoing construction and will accommodate launch operations for the fully stacked Starship rocket. Starship will lift off under the power of 33 Raptor engines, with each engine producing 500,000 lbf of force each, or 16,500,000 lbf for the whole vehicle.[65]
Launch history
The first SpaceX launch from pad 39A was
On February 6, 2018, Pad 39A hosted the successful liftoff of the Falcon Heavy on its
The second Falcon Heavy flight, carrying the Arabsat-6A communications satellite for Arabsat of Saudi Arabia, successfully launched on April 11, 2019. The satellite is to provide Ku band and Ka band communication services for the Middle East and northern Africa, as well as for South Africa. The launch was notable as it marked the first time that SpaceX was able to successfully soft-land all three of the reusable booster stages, which will be refurbished for future launches.[69]
The
Artemis program
On November 16, 2022, at 06:47:44 UTC the Space Launch System (SLS) was launched from Complex 39B as part of the Artemis 1 mission.[72][73]
Launch statistics
Pad 39A launches
Pad 39B launches
Current status
Launch Complex 39A
SpaceX has launched their launch vehicles from Launch Complex 39A and built a new hangar nearby.[47][42][74]
SpaceX assembles its launch vehicles horizontally in a hangar near the pad, and transports them horizontally to the pad before erecting the vehicle to vertical for the launch.[60] For military missions from Pad 39A, payloads will be vertically integrated, as that is required per launch contract with the U.S. Space Force.[60]
Pad 39A is used to host launches of astronauts on the
In April 2024, Elon Musk announced that SpaceX would have a launch tower for the Starship completed and operational by mid 2025.[76]
Launch Complex 39B
Since the Artemis 1 in 2022, Launch Complex 39B is used by NASA's
Launch Complex 39C
Launch Complex 39C is a new facility for
Construction
Construction of the pad began in January 2015 and was completed in June 2015.
Capabilities
The concrete pad measures about 50 feet (15 m) wide by about 100 feet (30 m) long and could support the combined weight of a fueled
With the addition of Launch Complex 39C, KSC offered the following processing and launching features for companies working with small-class vehicles (maximum thrust up to 200,000 lbf or 890 kN):[78]
- Processing facilities – i.e. Vehicle Assembly Building
- Vehicle/payload transportation (flatbed trucks, tugs, etc.) from integration facility to pad
- Launch site
- Universal propellant servicing system (LOX, LCH4)
- Launch control center/mobile command center options.[78]
Future development
This section needs to be updated.(March 2020) |
Previous Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Master Plan recommendations—in 1966, 1972, and 1977—noted that an expansion of KSC's vertical launch capacity could occur when the market demand existed. The 2007 Site Evaluation Study recommended an additional vertical launch pad, Launch Complex 49 (LC-49), to be sited north of existing LC-39B.
As part of the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) process, this proposed launch complex was consolidated from two pads (designated in the 1963 plans as 39C and 39D) to one that would provide greater separation from LC-39B. The area was expanded to accommodate a wider variety of launch azimuths, helping to protect against potential overflight concerns of LC-39B. This LC-49 launch facility could accommodate medium to large launch vehicles.[79]
The 2007 Vertical Launch Site Evaluation Study concluded that a vertical launch pad could also be sited to the south of 39A, and to the north of pad 41, to accommodate small to medium launch vehicles. Designated as
The Master Plan also notes a proposed New Vertical Launchpad northwest of LC-39B and a Horizontal Launch Area north of the LC-49 and converting the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) and its apron areas into a second Horizontal Launch Area.[80][79]
Space Florida has proposed that Launch Complex 48 be developed for use by Boeing's Phantom Express and that three landing pads be built for reusable booster systems, to provide more landing options for SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, Blue Origin's New Glenn, and other potential reusable vehicles.[81] The pads would be located east of the Horizontal Launch Area and north of LC-39B[82]
In August 2019, SpaceX submitted an Environmental Assessment for Starship launch system at Kennedy Space Center.[83] This document included plans for the construction of additional structures at LC-39A to support Starship launches, including a dedicated pad, liquid methane tanks, and a Landing Zone.[84] These are separate from the existing structures that support Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches.
Gallery
-
Space Shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour are placed at LC-39A and LC-39B in preparation for the final service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (May 2009). Endeavour was ready for a contingency mission in case of trouble with Atlantis.
-
Removal of the top floor of the fixed service structure on LC-39B (March 2011).
-
Storage tank for liquid hydrogen fuel located just to the Northeast of Kennedy Space Center's SLS launch pad 39B.
-
Artist's rendering of the Space Launch System Block 1 sitting on LC-39B with the Orion spacecraft at sunrise.
-
The first Space Launch System rocket on LC-39B for Artemis 1.
See also
- List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites
- Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A
- Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B
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This article incorporates public domain material from Launch Pad 39C.
External links
- Media related to Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 at Wikimedia Commons
- KSC page on Launch Complex 39 Facilities Archived June 19, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
- "Kennedy Prepares to Host Constellation". NASA. September 28, 2007. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2007.-
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. FL-4, "Mobile Launcher One, Kennedy Space Center, Titusville vicinity, Brevard County, FL"
- HAER No. FL-8-11-A, "Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Launch Complex 39, Launch Control Center, LCC Road, East of Kennedy Parkway North, Cape Canaveral, Brevard County, FL"