Kennedy Space Center

New photos and planning documents show potential Starship-sized expansions at SpaceX‘s Roberts Road facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The company is also planning four Falcon 9 launches this week. Meanwhile, its closest thing to a near-term competitor, Blue Origin, is gearing up to debut its New Glenn rocket.

In this exciting era of space exploration, NASA’s Artemis missions are poised to redefine the boundaries of human achievements as the agency sets its sights on landing the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon. 

If you’re ever at Disney’s EPCOT theme park, you might expect to see some NASA-related gear at “Mission: SPACE” or “Spaceship Earth,” but you can actually spot some NASA-developed tech in an unlikely place: The Land Pavilion.

In February, Space Explored interviewed five incredible members of NASA and Jacobs who were critical to the Artemis 1 mission, the maiden flight for NASA’s next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and Orion spacecraft.

Both Booster 7 and Ship 24 were static fired for the first time this week as a second Starbase surge appeared to begin. Over in Florida, the completion of the orbital launch tower grows ever closer. 

Starship development across Starbase and Florida has continued at a pace over the past week with progress on present and future vehicles and the scrapping of past vehicles, as Ship 21 met its fate.

Booster 7 underwent a cryogenic proof test earlier in the week, Ship 24 sections were moved around the production site, and work on the launch tower sections in Florida continues.

As progress continues to move at a rapid pace, a fully stacked Starship underwent its first cryogenic proof test this week followed by the first propellant loading test for the vehicle.

Hardware continues to be spotted in Florida with the construction of the tower segments as foundations are poured at Starship’s Florida launch site.

The launch control center at Kennedy Space Center that first sent mankind to the Moon has now been named after Rocco Petrone, a man instrumental in America’s journey to reach Earth’s celestial neighbor during the Apollo program.

Space fans have long anticipated SpaceX’s next rocket, Starship. While, to this point, most of the early development and testing has taken place in Boca Chica, Texas, SpaceX intends to launch Starship from Florida. We recently learned that, in addition to the LC-39A, SpaceX would like to use LC-49 to launch and land Starship Super Heavy vehicles.

We had the opportunity to speak with Tom Engler, the director of center planning & development at Kennedy Space Center.

Lockheed Martin recently opened their STAR Center at the former Astronaut Experience (ATX) attraction location. Now they are moving forward with plans to construct another factory building near their offices and AstroTech.

Stacking of the SLS Core Stage is well underway at this time with operations beginning on June 10th. This is a major milestone for the Artemis and SLS programs. The launch of Artemis 1 is currently NET November 2021, but this timeframe assumes no complications.

The Visitor Complex at Kennedy Space Center has reopened one of its must-see exhibits and just unveiled the Delta II display! With the Coronavirus still very much a hazard, the KSC Visitor Complex has implemented new procedures to keep you safe while still being able to see the amazing Saturn V. Additionally, the latest addition to the Rocket Garden was officially unveiled today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

After 29 years and 155 flights, United Launch Alliance retired the Delta II rocket. The final flight took place on September 15, 2018, delivering the NASA ICESat-2 satellite to orbit. Some notable payloads of Delta II are the Spirit and Opportunity Mars Rovers and most of the operational GPS satellites.

NASA invited media to Kennedy Space Center to witness the progress being made with the stacking of the SLS Solid Rocket Motors and to see the Orion Crew Capsule as it is being prepared to be moved to one of the final processing facilities before being stacked later this year.

In the coming months, Launch Complex 48 (LC-48) will become as talked about as all of the other launchpads on Florida’s Space Coast. NASA has been working on the development of this pad to be used by multiple launch providers with smaller classes of rockets. According to a press release issued today, they’ve set a limit of 500,000 pounds of thrust or less at liftoff.

NASA is currently in the process of replacing its three Bell Huey 2 helicopters with new Airbus H135 helicopters at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA has been using the Hueys for about 30 years, and a lot of the staff have expressed their sadness to see them go.

A team has started applying the “Launch America” logo onto the side of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The new art celebrates NASA’s now-operational Commercial Crew Program and return to crewed flight from U.S. soil after the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011.

We’ve seen much of the journey to NASA’s first Artemis mission take place at Stennis Space Center and Michoud Assembly Facility in Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively. This week we get to see the first piece of SLS hardware begin stacking at Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of the big launch around the Moon next year.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft will make the journey from Ohio to Florida later this month before ultimately leaving Earth for a test flight around the Moon for the first Artemis mission.

NASA has a media event at Plum Brook Station in Ohio scheduled for this Saturday, March 14, where Orion will be on full display. The viewing event was originally scheduled for Monday, March 9, then rescheduled for the weekend on Wednesday, March 4.

The spacecraft will arrive in Florida by Tuesday, March 24, when NASA will hold a second media event for welcoming the Orion spacecraft to its next testing home.