Say: The Kennedy Space Center was not ready for the era of super-heavy rockets

NASA’s infrastructure at the Kennedy Space Center, the crown jewel of US spaceports, is aging and nearing its limits thanks to the expansion of private companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, a new report has found.

The report, published by the NASA Office of Inspector General, said: “NASA’s implementation is critical to helping the agency, other government agencies, and commercial partners find space to carry out their complex and expensive missions. “However, NASA’s priorities are already written and often do not provide opportunities to meet the needs of the agency and its partners.”

The report covers NASA’s launch facilities at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. However, the most notable information contained in the report concerns the Florida area, where the demand from SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch vehicles is expected to stress NASA.

Roads and gas lines

NASA has only a few origins in Kennedy. Launch Complex 39A is leased by SpaceX to launch the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, and also houses the launch pad 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 proximity to this pad. Finally, NASA has built a 10-acre facility, Launch Complex 48, to lease to small launch companies.

The space agency’s neighbor to the south, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, has many more papers. This includes Launch Complex 36A and 36B leased from Blue Origin for the New Glenn rocket.