SpaceX confirms: Gigabay coming, and Starship launch from Florida by end of year
This news was publicly announced during the webcast of the March 3 Starship launch attempt from the Boca Chica, Texas, Starbase. Christopher Gebhardt from SpaceX communications spoke about the upcoming Starship plans during the Monday evening broadcast.
'We plan to complete the Starship launch pad at Pad 39A later this year, and pending the completion of the environmental reviews, SpaceX intends to conduct the first Starship launch from Florida Pad 39A later this year,' said Gebhardt.
The project includes at least $1.8 billion of SpaceX capital investment and will bring an estimated 600 new full-time jobs in the Space Coast by 2030, the governor's office said.
"With 600 new full-time jobs and the historic addition of Starship launches from Florida, this expansion strengthens our economy, grows our aerospace workforce, and solidifies our leadership in the next generation of space exploration," said U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos. "This investment is a testament to SpaceX's confidence in Florida's central role in spaceflight, and we are proud to support the groundbreaking missions that will lift off from our shores.'
While SpaceX acknowledges the Space Force and Federal Aviation Administration environmental reviews are not set to be released until later this year, construction of the giant Gigabay at KSC, which will be used to stack and finalize the 232-foot-tall Super Heavy boosters (lower-stages) before flight, could begin as soon as next month. Also, the Starship tower standing on Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A will be finalized.
The proposed SpaceX Gigabay will be an addition to SpaceX's current Robert's Road facilities on Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX has always said it plans to launch its massive rocket from Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A — and after development of a tower on the site, also from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 37.
SpaceX's Starship towers over 400-feet-tall — larger than any rocket ever in existence. It's 33 engines give off 16 million pounds of thrust upon liftoff. For reference, the Saturn V moon rocket was only 363 feet tall and gave off 7.6 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.
Starship is not only planned to be SpaceX's next workhorse rocket, the upper-stage is also being tapped by NASA to act as a human lander for the Artemis III mission, aimed at returning humans to the lunar surface no earlier than 2027. Should the plan remain the same with the new administration, Starship will dock to the Orion spacecraft in lunar orbit, taking astronauts down to the surface.
SpaceX has also repeatedly stated hopes of launching an uncrewed Starship to Mars by late 2026, when the planet will be close to Earth. This has been stated to be a goal not only of CEO Elon Musk, but of the Trump administration, as during President Trump's inauguration speech he spoke of putting the stars and strips on Mars. Should an uncrewed Starship to Mars in 2026 happen, a crewed mission could follow in 2028.
This timeline all depends on how soon Starship can be running smoothly, as while the previous flight saw a successful booster catch, the ship was lost less than 10 minutes into flight. It broke up over the Turks and Caicos Islands.
It remains to be seen how Starship improves on the upcoming Flight 8, which was scrubbed Monday due to a booster issues.
In this ambitious announcement, Gebhardt spoke of Florida's Gigabay after speaking about another Gigabay coming to Texas.
"But Gigabay isn't just for Texas. If that weren't exciting enough, we're also further expanding Starship operations into Florida, bringing production and launch capabilities to the Space Coast as Starship flight testing, development, and launch cadence continues to pick up pace at Starbase in Texas," said Gebhardt.
As for the Gigabay in Florida, construction could begin as soon as April. The 380-foot-tall structure would fall short of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building, which stands at 525-feet-tall. But at that height, it would still make the Gigabay a recognizable feature looming in the distance on approach to Cape Canaveral. This would give the general public a glimpse of SpaceX's new generation launch system.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis welcomed SpaceX's announcement Monday night.
'Florida is the present and future of the space industry with leading space companies—like SpaceX—investing in the Free State of Florida. We welcome SpaceX's Starship to our state," said Governor Ron DeSantis, who has also lobbied for NASA to move its headquarters to the Space Coast.
Like the SpaceX Megabay in Texas, the Gigabay would be used to stack and finalize the 232-foot-tall Super Heavy boosters (lower-stages) before flight. Once fully stacked on the launch pad, Starship stands more than 400-feet-tall.
When is the next Florida rocket launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral
So far, Starship has not reached an orbital flight from Texas, or successfully returned the ship (upper-stage) to the launch pad. As of January, SpaceX has caught the first-stage booster twice with the launch tower's "chopsticks". Full return and reusability is planned for future flights. The results of the upcoming Flight 8 remain to be seen in the coming days, and a return of the Starship to the launch pad could come as soon as Flight 9.
SpaceX has not publicly announced when crewed flights are estimated to begin, or an exact date of when Starship will launch from the Space Coast.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX: Starship to launch from Florida by end of the year
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