The long-awaited Starship ramp-up in Florida has begun, with work increasing at Pad 39A on the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) grounds. NSF obtained pictures of these preparations during a Cape flight, and companies like Stoke Space and Relativity are also proceeding with construction for flights scheduled for 2025 or 2026.
Starship
SpaceX started preparations for flying Starship from Pad 39A at KSC in late 2021, and the highly visible launch tower started being stacked in June 2022. Pillars for an orbital launch mount were also laid down and plans were made to support an annual cadence of at least 40 Starship launches per year.
However, the company’s focus turned to preparing the facilities at Starbase in Texas for initial flights of the full Starship system, and during the series of tests and flights in the past couple of years, SpaceX learned a great deal about how the ground support equipment and Starship worked — or didn’t work.
While the Starship facility at Pad 39A at KSC was largely silent, work started on a second launch pad — Pad B — at Starbase. This pad and orbital launch mount feature many changes from Starbase’s first pad, now known as Pad A. SpaceX scrapped much of this work, including scrapping the orbital launch mount (OLM) built in Hangar M and tearing down the pillars for the OLM.
Now that Starship flights have entered a new phase at Starbase, Starship-related activity in Florida has picked up considerably, as seen in images obtained by NSF during a recent flyover. Parts of a new, redesigned OLM have been seen at the Roberts Road facility, and these parts are identical to parts seen on the new OLM at Starbase’s Pad B.
New parts for a Starship orbital launch mount are seen outside a now-complete tent at Roberts Road. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
The new OLM design is a square structure with three layers. The bottom layer anchors the launch platform and incorporates a flame trench, while the middle layer contains hold-down clamps, and the top layer features water channels to cool down the mount during launches and catch attempts. The OLM also has a circular fitting for the Super Heavy booster to fit in.
An earlier OLM circular structure built in Hangar M on the industrial side at Cape Canaveral is still sitting outside, but it is likely that the new OLM will be built at Roberts Road. A new tent structure on rails has been completed and it may be where this OLM is built. A large crane will also be needed for OLM construction.
SpaceX’s Roberts Road facility in Florida, where a large expansion is planned. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
SpaceX has also cleared ground for the 43-acre Phase 1 of its expansion of the Roberts Road facility, and it is possible the new area — as large as the entire Starbase production site – could become a new Starship production site in Florida.
If parts for a new mega bay and a large crane are seen there in the future, that is a sign of the area’s purpose as a production site. A new road is being built at Roberts Road as well, and four Starlink gateways have been installed to improve the facility’s connectivity.
An addition to the Hangar X building is nearly complete, one that was seen still under construction during a previous flyover. As the Roberts Road facility expands, work on the Starship launch facility at Pad 39A — and changes from the Starship pad’s previous configuration — are proceeding.
Closeup of the Starship tower and activity surrounding it at Pad 39A. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
Cranes and lifts have been seen around the launch tower, while a vertical liquid oxygen tank built at Pad 39A in 2022 has been recently dismantled. As part of initial Starship pad preparations, the large circular liquid hydrogen tank that supported Apollo and Shuttle operations was repurposed as a methane tank. A set of propellant transfer lines had been built above ground from that tank and a set of horizontal tanks to the launch tower area.
However, these lines have now been taken out, and several excavators have been seen nearby. This likely indicates a different design for the tank farm which will include underground transfer lines similar to those used at Starbase. Long horizontal tanks like those at Starbase are likely to be used as well, while the excavators could be used to help build a flame trench. No signs of this work have been seen yet.
Falcon Operations
After several groundings earlier this year, the Falcon 9’s launch cadence has broken its monthly record and is at an impressive level. As an example of this, Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) has become the world’s busiest launch pad. One major enabler of this cadence is the SpaceX maritime fleet, notably the drone ships used to recover the Falcon 9’s first stage boosters.
A Falcon 9 booster standing at Port Canaveral after being offloaded from a drone ship. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
During NSF’s flyover in September, work was seen on the deck of Just Read the Instructions. This work was likely related to a new water deluge system on the drone ship’s landing deck. The drone ship had a gap of one month between supporting launches — from Sept. 17 to Oct. 18 — and it appears this was when the system was added.
This deluge system was likely installed to reduce wear on the landing deck, which could save these ships from having to go into dry dock every few months. The deluge was first seen during the recovery of B1076-17 aboard Just Read the Instructions during the Oct. 18 Starlink 8-19 launch from SLC-40. If the deluge system works as intended, similar work as seen in September could well be done on A Shortfall of Gravitas.
A set of extended fairings seen at SLC-40 recently. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
A subcooler on the LOX tank farm that supported that flight was seen to be venting, near an excavator at an area where SpaceX wants to build a future air separation unit for Starship. A future upgrade to be used on Falcon vehicles was also seen for the first time.
A new extended set of launch fairings for Falcon Heavy has been seen on one side of the SLC-40 complex. The extended fairing is necessary for certain national security missions and has not flown yet. A number of national security satellites feature large assemblies that need the extra space the fairing brings.
Stoke Space is working on SLC-14, which hosted Mercury launches in the early 1960s and will host Nova launches. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
Other Entities
Stoke Space is developing its Nova medium launch vehicle, which is designed to allow full reusability of the first and second stages. Nova is scheduled to fly from SLC-14 as early as next year, and work has been done on this complex after the company obtained a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) on its plans.
Environmental approval is required for projects like these, and if a FONSI cannot be granted, an environmental impact statement (EIS) is required. Work on this statement could take years to complete; for example, if Starbase had required a new EIS, launch operations there would have been delayed even further from its original target.
NSF obtained flyover imagery from SLC-14, where activity is picking up, as well as Relativity’s SLC-16. SLC-16 will support the partially reusable Terran R, and foundation work on its hangar appears to be underway. The launch pad is having work done on its flame trench foundations.
The ULA Spacecraft Processing and Operations Center with Pad 40 in the background. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
ULA is expanding its Spacecraft Processing and Operations Center to become a second vertical integration facility for Vulcan. This will enable the rocket to support the launch cadence necessary to help deploy the Amazon Kuiper broadband constellation, a competitor to Starlink.
NASA, with the help of Bechtel, is working on its Mobile Launcher 2 (ML2) for SLS, even as questions are raised about the future of the program. ML2 is required to fly the SLS Block 1B, starting with Artemis IV, and construction continues while the fate of the program will be decided by the new Presidential administration in the coming months.
The Demag CC 8800 seen along with other equipment by ML2. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
A new crane – a Demag CC 8800, the same model that was used to build up the second launch tower at Starbase – has been seen at the build site and will be used to help build ML2’s tower. It is rumored that this crane is in fact the exact same crane used to build up the Starbase Pad B tower.
2025 will be a year to watch on the Space Coast, and the areas that the Dec. 5 flyover covered will likely look very different a year from now. Launch and construction activity from SpaceX is expected to continue at a high cadence, while other providers increase their own launch cadence or prepare to fly new vehicles.
(Lead image: Starship launch tower is seen at Pad 39A during a Dec. 5 flyover. Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
