Explosives topple ULA launch complex towers to make room for SpaceX Starships at Cape Canaveral
The demolition clears room for SpaceX to build new launch pads, landing pads and surrounding infrastructure for enormous Starship-Super Heavy rocket systems — which could start rumbling to flight from Launch Complex 37 as soon as next year.
"Shout out to the @SLDelta45 and @SpaceX for the clean and precision demolition operation!!! Cheers to the future!" SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev said in a tweet.
Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Axiom, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral
ULA previously launched Delta IV rockets from the complex. The 16th Delta IV Heavy triple-core rocket notched its final fiery liftoff in April 2024 on a National Reconnaissance Office mission, marking the last launch at the site.
Now, SpaceX awaits key environmental and regulatory approvals from the U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration to start launching Starships from the complex. A 176-page Air Force draft environmental impact statement spells out proposed new infrastructure at LC-37:
Two integration towers, each measuring about 600 feet tall.
Two concrete launch pads about 400 feet long by 400 feet wide.
Two concrete landing pads, each measuring about 225 feet in diameter, with two Super Heavy first-stage-booster catch towers. These will stack up similar in size to the integration towers.
Flame trenches and diverters to reduce acoustic and thermal energy during launches and landings.
Utilities, propellant tanks, staging and storage buildings, water storage and stormwater ponds, lighting and other improvements.
In addition, SpaceX would widen about seven miles of Phillips Parkway. Roughly four miles of this stretch lie on the Space Force installation, while the other three are on NASA's adjacent Kennedy Space Center. Crews would also widen and improve about one mile of Old State Road A1A.
ULA's lease of LC-37 expired after that April 2024 Delta IV Heavy launch, and infrastructure at the launch site was turned over to the Air Force, said Emre Kelly, Space Launch Delta 45 media operations chief.
"The (Air Force) does not intend to make a future leasing decision on SLC-37 until the Starship Environmental Impact Statement is complete and Record of Decision has been published," Kelly said in an email.
Launch Complex 37 construction wrapped up in August 1963, three months before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Six Saturn I and two Saturn IB rockets launched there during the 1960s before NASA deactivated and mothballed the complex by November 1971, according to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum.
After lying dormant for more than two decades, crews built new infrastructure at the complex and the first Delta IV launched in November 2002.
'I have great feelings of nostalgia for that pad. I was fortunate enough to capture several Delta Medium and Delta Heavy launches from that pad. The Delta rockets were just beautiful to photograph," Indialantic space photographer Michael Seeley said after capturing demolition video and images.
"And so, watching it topple, I was reminded of that. And I'm reminded that, with change comes opportunity. I'm interested to see what comes next,' Seeley said.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space. Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: ULA rocket towers demolished at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
a day ago
- CNET
Starlink Deal Makes Satellite Dish 50% Cheaper for New Customers. Here's How It Works
Starlink's satellite-based internet service has been a popular solution for people outside of traditional ISPs' service areas, and it just got a lot easier to give Starlink a try -- it's now featuring its lowest monthly prices ever and cutting the cost of the necessary equipment in half. You can now purchase the Starlink standard kit for $175, down from its usual $349 price tag. Unlike previous deals, this one is available to new customers anywhere in the country. Most Starlink deals in the past have been limited to areas with fewer users. Like the plan discounts, Starlink hasn't said how long the equipment deal will last. In the past, promotions have generally been around for several months. Don't miss any of CNET's unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome. Is Starlink your best option for internet service? Starlink has been a game changer for many people living in rural areas but I generally only recommend it as a last resort. That's partly because of its high price tag -- its standard rate of $120 per month is still far higher than the $78 average price in the US -- and partly because of its performance. According to a recent report from the speed test site Ookla, Starlink users receive median speeds of 105Mbps down and 15Mbps up. That's plenty of bandwidth for many households but it still falls short of what the Federal Communications Commission defines as broadband. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Starlink's median download speeds have nearly doubled since 2022, according to Ookla. Ookla The speeds you get from Starlink are also dependent on how many users there are in your area. One recent study from Penn State University found that Starlink's satellites can handle just 6.66 households per square mile before service starts to dip below the FCC's minimum standard. That doesn't mean you won't have enough speed to do everything you need online -- a Zoom meeting only requires about 4Mbps, for instance -- but it does give you an idea of how network congestion impacts Starlink. Now Playing: Tips for Mounting a Starlink Satellite Dish on Your Home 06:19 If there's a cable or fiber internet connection available at your address, I'm always going to recommend one of those over Starlink. They might come with their own frustrations, but they're almost always faster and cheaper than satellite providers. Read more: Choose the Best Internet Provider for Your Home With Help From an Expert To see what's available to you, enter your address on the FCC's broadband map. You'll see a list of providers, the type of technology they use and the speeds they say they can deliver.
New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
New Texas Laws Open a Wild West for Corporate Governance
Elon Musk scored a major victory this month when Tesla awarded him $29 billion, a 'first step' in a long-promised payday. It was also a win for Texas, where Tesla is now incorporated. A new law in the state helped pave the way for Musk's pay package after it was initially blocked by a Delaware judge. Texas' low corporate tax rate and employer-friendly labor laws have long made it an attractive place for businesses, but most big companies — two-thirds of the Fortune 500 — still incorporate in Delaware. Corporate America's backlash to a string of decisions by Delaware courts, including the one voiding Musk's pay package, has heightened the opportunity for Texas to compete for corporate domicile. Some major companies, including SpaceX, Dropbox and TripAdvisor, have decided to leave (or rather, as the exodus from Delaware has been named, 'Dexit'). Over the past few months, the Texas Legislature has passed several bills that could help attract Delaware's defectors by shifting more power from shareholders to executives. Under the new laws: Businesses incorporated in Texas can ban lawsuits from all but their biggest owners. Companies have the power to pass a bylaw that mandates that shareholders own at least a 3 percent stake in order to sue. That effectively shields companies from shareholder lawsuits, since so few of them meet that criteria. Tesla was quick to take advantage of the new law, passing a bylaw in May that helped clear Musk's blockbuster payday. Corporations incorporated or headquartered in Texas can restrict shareholder proposals to only their largest shareholders. That covers those owning at least $1 million in stock or 3 percent of the company. That helps companies like Exxon Mobil, which is headquartered in Texas but incorporated in New Jersey, avoid activist shareholder proposals on issues like climate change. Last year, Exxon sued the investor groups Arjuna Capital and Follow This over shareholder proposals that pushed the company to limit its greenhouse gas emissions. Proxy advisers face hurdles to disagreeing with management. These firms, which make recommendations for how shareholders vote on company issues, must publicly disclose that they incorporated 'nonfinancial factors' and 'subordinated the financial interest of shareholders' if they take into account environmental, social or governance issues when advising clients to vote against a company. Because nearly all shareholder proposals touch on E.S.G. issues, the measure effectively blocks proxy advisers from siding against management on any shareholder proposal. The aim is to tell boards and executives in Delaware that 'Texas is open for business,' said Nathan Jensen, a government professor at the University of Texas-Austin. States have been competing for corporate charters since the late 1800s. The incentives are high: About 30 percent of Delaware's revenue in 2024 came from franchise taxes. Politicians often claim new charters as a political victory, framing Delaware's court decisions as examples of unnecessary interference. When Tesla reincorporated in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X: 'Congrats Elon on getting the pay you were promised and on your new incorporation in Texas.' Texas has succeeded in wooing Musk's Tesla and SpaceX, but it faces competition from Nevada, which offers similarly lax governance laws. In addition to Dropbox and TripAdvisor, the venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz recently departed for Nevada, announcing its move in a blog post titled, 'We're Leaving Delaware, and We Think You Should Consider Leaving Too.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Upcoming SpaceX launches in Florida: Mysterious space plane and NASA resupply mission
The Space Coast is in for two rare lanches this coming week − the mysterious Space Force space plane and a space station resupply mission for NASA. Of course, this is if the weather doesn't ruin the opportunity and everything else lines up perfectly. First up is the launch of the secretive Space Force X-37B space plane. The launch is slated for no earlier than August 21 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A., atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, according to a Space Force press release. A launch time has not yet been announced. There are few details on the Boeing-built X-37B space plane, a Space Force vehicle which is seeing its eighth mission less than six months after completing its last. The X-37B landed in early March at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California after spending over 430 days cruising around the Earth. The reusable space plane first launched in 2010. The last time the Space Coast saw the X-37B launch was back in December 2023. To date the vehicle has seen over 4,200 days in orbit. According to Boeing, the X-37B will be carrying experiments for the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Innovation Unit on this mission. When is the next Florida rocket launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming NASA, SpaceX, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral It will also be testing a new sensor, which will enable GPS contact where communication would have previously been difficult − including beyond Earth orbit and around the moon, according to Boeing. Due to the X-37B being a classified Space Force mission, further details remain limited. SpaceX CRS-33 resupply mission for NASA Next up is a SpaceX resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. Set for no earlier than 2:45 a.m. Sunday, August 24, the mission is known as CRS-33. The mission is SpaceX's 33rd ISS resupply mission for NASA. The cargo mission includes a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft full of supplies and science for the astronauts onboard the ISS. The resupply spacecraft will be launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. With the spacecraft headed to the International Space Station, the rocket will fly on a northeast trajectory upon liftoff. While docked to the ISS, the Dragon spacecraft will do something new − it will use a new propulsion system to give a boost to the space station, slightly raising its orbit over a period of time. The FLORIDA TODAY Space Team will provide live updates ahead of each liftoff at Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@ or on X: @brookeofstars. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX to launch X-37B space plane and NASA resupply mission this week
