In a long expected move, documents showing that SpaceX is planning to shift operations away from Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral’s Space Force Station’s old LC-13 to an area just east of the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 have been filed.
LZ-1 and LZ-2 (as they are colloquially known in the spaceflight community) are on the site of the former Launch Complex 13 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
LC-13 was constructed in 1956 used for test launches and operational Atlas launches from 1958 to 1978, when it was shuttered. The Mobile Service Tower was demolished by a controlled explosion in 2005 for safety reasons, and the blockhouse there was demolished in 2012.
Photo: SpaceX
Two New Landing Pads?
Also in the works, SpaceX is planning to build a landing zone aside its launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, but current conventional wisdom assumes this will be for SpaceX’s future Starship operations.
LC-13 History
LC-13 was originally used for operational and test launches of the Atlas ICBM, and Atlas B, D, E and F missiles were also test launched from there. It was the most-used and longest-serving of the original four Atlas pads.
- April 1956 – LC-13 construction started
- 14 April 1958 – Air Force accepted the launch complex
- 2 August 1958 – First of two Atlas B launches
- 14 April 1959 – 11 March 1960 – Thirteen Atlas D launches
- 15 February 1960 – Atlas Able exploded during static firing
- 11 October 1960 – 13 February 1962 – Fourteen Atlas E launches
- 10 November 1961 – Monkey “Goliath” launched on Atlas E; mission failed
- 9 August 1961 – One Atlas F launched
- 1962-1963 – Pad converted into an Atlas Agena D complex for space launches. The A-frame Mobile Service Tower was demolished and a new larger, square-shaped structure was built.
- 17 October 1963 – 20 July 1965 – Three VELA launches (two satellites each)
- 5 November 1964 – NASA Mariner 3 mission launched by an Atlas Agena
- 1966 – Launch complex turned over to NASA for civilian Atlas Agena D launches
- 6 November 1966 – 4 March 1968 – Six NASA Atlas Agena D launched; five Lunar Orbiter and one Orbiting Geophysical Observatory E
- March 1968 – Returned to Air Force
- 6 August 1968 – 7 April 1978 – Eleven classified Atlas Agena D launches for the Air Force
- 7 April 1978 – Launch complex deactivated after the last launch. Supported 51 Atlas and Atlas Agena launches
- 6 August 2005 – Mobile Service Tower came down by a controlled explosion
- June 2012 – Blockhouse demolished
- February 2015 – Site leased by SpaceX to be used as a landing platform for the Falcon9 1st stage
- Site renamed Landing Zone One (LZ-1)
- 21 December 2015 B1019 touched down during Falcon 9 flight 20
- 6 February 2018 Two booster touch down at LZ-1 and LZ-2 during Falcon Heavy Flight Test
Source: Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum
Photo: NASA
US Air Force ID 050809-F-0000X-012
Photo: SpaceX
Photo: SpaceX
LC-13’s Future
In 2023, the 2-pad launch site has been allocated to Cocoa, Florida based Vaya Space and also Phantom Space through the Department of the Air Force’s Launch Pad Allocation Strategy (LPAS), a program designed to support the commercial space market and demand at the Eastern Range.
At the time, Kevin Lowdermilk, CEO of Vaya Space said, “We are proud to be selected as one of the four companies in the first round of the Launch Pad Allocation Strategy by the Space Force and we truly appreciate their support of commercial space launch. We are pleased to call SLC-13 home.”
Graphic: Vaya Space
“Launching from SLC-13 gives Vaya Space a long-term home on the Eastern Range to support our customers’ launch needs,” added Rob Fabian, COO of Vaya Space. “We’re looking forward to many launches from there alongside our friends from Phantom Space. It’s encouraging to see a new generation of commercial space launch vehicles rise up in the footprints of the old Atlas launch vehicles the site was built to launch.”
Vaya is producing the Dauntless rocket, which is propelled by solid rocket fuel. That fuel is produced from 99% recycled post-industrial thermoplastic, and the Dauntless rocket will utilize more than 7.8 metric tons per launch. Vaya states that the spent fuel exhaust will safely break it down into non-toxic byproducts.
Timing
At this point in time, the dates for the approval, construction and eventual move of SpaceX landing operations to the new landing pad are not known.
Author: Charles Boyer
NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.
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