Prepping for Starship, SpaceX is about to demolish one of ULA’s launch pads

With intentions to use the space for up to 76 launches of the company’s Starship rocket annually, the US Air Force is getting closer to approving SpaceX’s relocation into one of the biggest launch pads at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

According to the Department of the Air Force’s (Space Force’s) draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which was made public this week, SpaceX’s intended use of Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral would not significantly harm local historical, social, cultural, or environmental interests. Additionally, SpaceX’s plans at SLC-37 will not significantly affect the company’s competitors in the launch industry, according to the Air Force.

The Space Force previously leased the launch site to United Launch Alliance, one of SpaceX’s main competitors in the US launch market, but the Defense Department is spearheading the environmental review and approval process for SpaceX to occupy the space. April 2024 saw ULA launch its last Delta IV Heavy rocket from SLC-37, just a few months after the military declared SpaceX was considering utilizing the launch pad.

It is anticipated that ground crews will start dismantling Delta IV-era structures at the launch pad this week. Ars demolition could start as early as Thursday, according to several sources.

Questions about the demolition schedule were referred to SpaceX, which is in charge of the project, by Space Force spokesperson Emre Kelly. However, he said that the two lightning towers, the fixed umbilical tower, and the mobile gantry of the Delta IV would all fall. SpaceX and the Space Force have no plans to publicize the demolition in advance, in contrast to previous major demolitions at Cape Canaveral.

Kelly stated, “These items will be demolished in compliance with state and federal laws governing explosive demolition operations.”.

They will be replaced by two 600-foot (180-meter) Starship launch integration towers that SpaceX intends to erect inside the 230-acre SLC-37 complex.

secured at the hip.

An example of the government’s close ties to—and even dependence on—Elon Musk’s space company is the Space Force’s readiness to cede to SpaceX a portion of prime real estate at Cape Canaveral. So far, the two billionaires have only engaged in a verbal sparring match as a result of Musk and President Donald Trump’s falling out.

However, Trump has declared that Musk will face “serious consequences” if he continues to support Democratic political candidates and threatened to revoke Musk’s contracts with the federal government. Before reversing the threat last week, Musk stated that he would start dismantling SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, the only American vehicle that transports humans to and from orbit.

To launch the country’s most important military satellites and maintain the ISS, NASA and the Space Force depend on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. A number of new missions, including international military cargo delivery and NASA-led missions to the Moon and Mars, may be made possible by the super heavy-lift capabilities Starship will provide to the government.

A “right of limited entry” has already been granted to SpaceX to start getting ready to turn SLC-37 into a Starship launch pad. It is anticipated that SpaceX and the Space Force will sign a comprehensive lease agreement following the publication of the final Environmental Impact Statement.

A notice of intent was issued more than a year ago, and the environmental approval process progressed through studies, evaluations, and scope meetings that helped create the draft EIS. Through the end of July, government representatives will now hold additional public meetings and request feedback on SpaceX’s plans. The Department of the Air Force will then release a final EIS and a “record of decision,” as per the project’s official timeline, sometime this fall.

A growing footprint.

SpaceX may be able to start launching Starships from SLC-37 as early as next year with this timeline, even though the site still needs to have its existing buildings demolished and new towers, propellant farms, a methane liquefaction plant, water tanks, deluge systems, and other ground support equipment built. Since the construction will probably take longer than a year, 2027 might be a more reasonable goal.

As per the draft EIS, the company is also considering the possibility of building two distinct towers that would be used exclusively as “catch towers” for recovering Super Heavy boosters and Starship upper stages “if space allows” at SLC-37. The Air Force claims that because the site would have a “high potential” for affecting endangered species and is “less ideal” than building an existing launch pad, SpaceX’s proposal to build a standalone Starship launch pad on undeveloped property at Cape Canaveral was rejected during the initial review process.

Recovering its reusable Super Heavy and Starship vehicles will be accomplished by SpaceX using articulating arms on a tower, which could be a catch-only tower or a launch integration structure. At SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in South Texas, the company has already shown that it can catch the Super Heavy booster on three test flights. Later this year, if SpaceX can resolve the technical issues that have impeded the rocket’s progress in recent months, an attempt to capture a Starship vehicle returning from low-Earth orbit may take place.

Pad B, the second Starship launch tower being outfitted at Starbase, could also be operational by the end of this year. SpaceX has constructed another Starship tower at Launch Complex 39A, a historic location on NASA property at Kennedy Space Center, a few miles north of SLC-37. Installing a new launch mount, completing the excavation of a flame trench, and installing all the tanks and plumbing required to store and load super-cold propellants into the rocket are still major tasks at LC-39A. The first Starship launch from LC-39A is likely a year or more away, but according to SpaceX’s most recent official schedule, it might occur before the year is out.

According to a document made public last year, the Starship team intends to build a separate catch tower close to the Starship launch tower at LC-39A, paralleling the strategy SpaceX is using at SLC-37. If constructed, these catch towers could streamline Starship operations as the flight rate increases. SpaceX could use the chopstick arms on nearby integration towers to stack Starships for launch while catching a returning rocket at one spot.

With its expanding presence in Florida and Texas, SpaceX has constructed, is constructing, or has announced plans to construct a minimum of five Starship launch towers. Musk plans to eventually launch and land several Starships every day, so this number is probably going to increase in the upcoming years. This will increase gradually as SpaceX resolves Starship design flaws, expands factory capacity, and activates new launch pads.

SpaceX’s request to launch Starships up to 25 times annually from Starbase, Texas, was approved last month by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is in charge of environmental reviews for launch locations that aren’t on military property. Five was the previous limit, but it’s likely to rise from here. As 2025 approaches, SpaceX aimed to launch up to 25 Starships this year; however, three of the rockets’ most recent test flights failures have slowed development, making this goal unachievable.

That’s quite a few launches.

The FAA is evaluating the effects of launching Starships from Kennedy Space Center up to 44 times annually in Florida as part of its environmental review for LC-39A. Up to 76 Starship flights annually from SLC-37 are being considered by the Air Force at the adjacent Cape Canaveral Space Force Station using SpaceX’s proposal. Environmental assessments for Super Heavy and Starship landings inside the boundaries of each launch complex are also included in the scope of each review.

A similar document for SpaceX’s proposed expansion and Starship launch operations at LC-39A, which also houses a launch pad used for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy flights, has not yet been made public by the FAA, despite the fact that the draft EIS for SLC-37 is now available.

With additional test flights, Starship launch pads are heating up, and SpaceX will continue to launch its reliable Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. SpaceX might have up to nine operational launch pads dispersed throughout three states in a few years. Many more, possibly including offshore launch and landing sites, would be needed to realize the company’s most optimistic vision for Starship.

SpaceX has leased the former West Coast launch pad at California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base for the Delta IV rocket from United Launch Alliance. Beginning as early as next year, SpaceX will prepare this launch pad, called SLC-6, for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches, increasing the capacity of the company’s current Vandenberg launch pad, which is only set up for Falcon 9s. The demolition of superfluous towers and other structures from the Delta IV (and Space Shuttle) program will be part of the preparation work for SLC-6, just like it was at SLC-37 in Florida.

No plans to launch Starships from the California spaceport have been disclosed by SpaceX as of yet.

As the majority of its closest rivals restrict themselves to one or two launch pads, SpaceX is expanding its launch facilities. In an effort to cut costs, ULA has trimmed its footprint from seven launch pads to two. Although it has not yet disclosed plans to open a launch facility at Vandenberg, Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin currently operates a single launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Rocket Lab currently operates three launch pads for light-class electron rockets in Virginia and New Zealand, and it will soon have a fourth for medium-lift neutron launchers.

In Ars’ latest annual power ranking of US launch providers, these four businesses came in first place.

Last year, ULA and Blue Origin, two of these rivals, were upset that SpaceX’s goal of launching up to 120 Starships annually from Florida’s Space Coast might require them to clear their launch pads for safety. Ensuring that all personnel stay out of hazardous areas during testing and launch operations is the responsibility of the Space Force.

At Cape Canaveral, it might get very crowded. Military officials predict that more than 110 launches could be conducted annually by launch companies other than SpaceX. SpaceX plans to launch up to 76 Starships and 152 Super Heavy boosters (a total of 152 landings) annually at SLC-37, which the Air Force acknowledged in the draft EIS “may result in planning constraints for other range user operations.”. This excludes the FAA’s pending approval for up to 44 Starship flights annually from LC-39A.

However, the report indicates that Blue Origin’s and ULA’s launch pads won’t need to be evacuated in order for SpaceX to proceed with its plans to launch from SLC-37. Although the report doesn’t specifically address how Starship launches affect ULA and Blue Origin, it did note that during a Starship launch at SLC-37, work could proceed on SpaceX’s own Falcon 9 launch pad at SLC-40. This result appears to suggest that workers could stay at those launch sites because SLC-40 is closer to SLC-37 than ULA and Blue Origin’s pads.

The potential effects of Starship launches from NASA property on surrounding employees are also not mentioned in the Air Force’s environmental report. Furthermore, it makes no mention of how workers’ access to other facilities near the launch pad, like offices and hangars, might be impacted by Starship launches from SLC-37.

Starship flights from SLC-37 “should have no significant impact” on “ongoing and future activities” at the spaceport, according to the Air Force’s environmental report’s conclusion to this section.

Starships in shipping.

At Kennedy Space Center, a few miles away, SpaceX is building a Starship integration building while expanding its Starship launch pads along the Florida coast. Beside an existing SpaceX building used for Falcon 9 processing and launch control will be this structure, known as Gigabay.

According to SpaceX, the 380-foot-tall Gigabay will have 815,000 square feet of workspace and roughly 46.5 million cubic feet of internal processing space. The building should be operational by the end of 2026, according to the company. SpaceX also plans to build a co-located Starship manufacturing facility, which would resemble the recently finished Starfactory building at Starbase in Texas.

Starships and Super Heavy boosters will be transported horizontally by barges from South Texas to Cape Canaveral by SpaceX until this factory is operational.