COO Gwynne Shotwell stated in 2014 that "we are expanding in all of our locations" and "you will end up seeing a lot of SpaceX launch sites in order to meet the future demand that we anticipate."[3]As of June2016[update], SpaceX discussed preliminary plans to launch an average of 90 rockets per year after 2019.[4] SpaceX have indicated that, depending on market demand, they may actually need another commercial launch site in addition to the Texas location.[2]
In 2016, SpaceX signed a five-year lease to use a 53,000 square foot (4,900m2) former Spacehab building at Port Canaveral.[5] A new building nearby is also planned, and these facilities would be used to refurbish rockets.[6]
SpaceX has indicated that they see a niche for each of the four orbital facilities currently in use or under construction, and that they have sufficient launch business to fill each pad,[7] particularly so by the end of the decade if SpaceX business remains strong.[2]
In 2007, the US Air Force leased Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 to SpaceX to launch the Falcon 9 rocket.[8] During April 2008, construction started on the ground facilities necessary to support the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Renovations included installation of new liquid oxygen and kerosene tanks and construction of a hangar for rocket and payload preparation.
The first Falcon 9 rocket arrived at SLC-40 in late 2008, and was first erected on January 10, 2009.[9] It successfully reached orbit on its maiden launch on June 4, 2010, carrying a dummy payload qualification unit. SpaceX modified the launch pad in 2013 in order to support launches of the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle, a 60 percent heavier rocket with 60 percent more thrust on realigned engines[10] and 60 percent longer fuel tank than the v1.0 version of the Falcon 9, requiring a modified transporter/erector.[11]
In September 2016, the pad was damaged when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded during liquid oxygen loading in preparation for a hot-fire test.[12] The pad was repaired and used for the first time since the explosion in the SpaceX CRS-13 mission in December 2017.[13]
Kennedy Space Center
Robert D. Cabana, director of KSC, announces the signing of the LC-39A lease agreement on April 14, 2014.
In December 2013, NASA and SpaceX were in negotiations for SpaceX to lease Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A, after SpaceX was selected in a multi-company bid process, following NASA's decision in early 2013 to lease the unused complex out as part of a bid to reduce annual operation and maintenance costs of unused government facilities.[14] The SpaceX bid was for exclusive use of the launch complex to support their future crewed missions,[15] but SpaceX said in September 2013 that they are also willing to support a multi-user arrangement for LC-39A,[16] and they reiterated that position in December 2013.[17]
A competing bid for commercial use of the launch complex was submitted by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, who bid for a shared non-exclusive use of the complex such that the launchpad can interface with multiple vehicles, and costs of pad operational expenses could be shared over the long term. One potential shared user in the Blue Origin notional plan was with United Launch Alliance.[15] In September 2013—prior to completion of the bid period, and prior to any public announcement by NASA of the results of the process—Blue Origin filed a protest with the U.S.General Accounting Office (GAO) over what it said was "a plan by NASA to award an exclusive commercial lease to SpaceX for use of mothballed space shuttle launch LC-39A."[18] NASA planned to complete the bid award and have the pad transferred by October 1, 2013, but the protest delayed a decision until after the GAO resolved the protest.[18] Following the eruption of the controversy, on September 21, SpaceX said that they were willing to support a multi-user arrangement for LC-39A.[2][16] In December 2013, the GAO denied the protest and sided with NASA, which argued that the solicitation contains no preference on the use of the facility as multi-use or single-use. "The [solicitation] document merely asks bidders to explain their reasons for selecting one approach instead of the other and how they would manage the facility."[19]
SpaceX began architectural and engineering design work on the pad modifications in 2013, and signed the contractual documents to lease the pad for 20 years[20] from NASA in April 2014.[21] SpaceX is building a large Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) just outside the perimeter of the existing launch pad in order to "house the Falcon [rockets] and associated hardware and payloads during processing."[22] This is a marked difference from the vertical integration facility used by previous US government rockets that used the launch pad (Apollo Program and the Space Shuttle)—plus the installation of all new instrumentation and control systems, with substantial new plumbing for a variety of rocket liquids and gasses.[20]
The Falcon rockets will be transported from the HIF to the launch pad aboard a Transporter Erector (TE) which will ride on rails up the former crawlerway path.[22] In February 2016, it was reported that the pad was completed and activated indicating it is ready for launches of Falcon 9 Full Thrust.[23] The first SpaceX launch from LC-39A occurred in February 2017, followed by a successful first-stage landing at Landing Zone 1. Further work was needed to support Falcon Heavy and crewed launches took over 60 days and occurred after Cape Canaveral LC-40 reopened.[1]Demo-2, SpaceX's first crewed space mission launched from the Kennedy LC-39A launch pad in May 2020.
In April 2018, SpaceX completed a draft environmental assessment for a new facility "that would include a booster processing hangar and launch control center on 67 acres (27ha) of KSC property" to support a faster flight rate of "Falcon rockets, including processing of landed booster stages and recovered payload fairings for reuse."[24]
Future support
The SpaceX Starship was initially deemed too large to launch from any existing SpaceX facility. In 2014, SpaceX indicated that the historic Florida launchpad LC-39A would not be large enough, and they planned to build a new site to accommodate the 9-meter-diameter (30ft) rocket.[25] The Starship is projected to be powered by 28 Raptorliquid oxygen/liquid methane engines producing approximately 72MN (16,000,000lbf) of thrust at liftoff.[26][27][28][29] In his September 2016 presentation, Elon Musk stated that the large launch vehicle would indeed be launched from LC-39A.[30] However, SpaceX instead opted to build their South Texas Launch Site for exclusive use by Starship.
SpaceX broke ground at Vandenberg in July 2011.[31][32] A 2011 estimate showed that the project was expected to cost between $20 and $30 million for the first 24 months of construction and operation; thereafter, operational costs were expected to be $5–10 million per year. The sixth flight of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle launched in September 2013, which was the maiden flight of Falcon 9 v1.1.[2] The site was used for a second time in January 2016 for the Jason-3 launch (which was the last flight of Falcon 9 v1.1) and for a third time in January 2017 for the first of the Iridium Next launches.
On April 24, 2023, the United States Space Force announced that it was leasing Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6) to SpaceX for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. SpaceX expects to begin Falcon 9 launches from SLC-6 in 2025 and Falcon Heavy launches in 2026.[33] Since then, SpaceX has started reconfiguring the launch pad.[34]
Other launch pads
The first Falcon 1 at SpaceX's leased launch pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. This vehicle was removed from VAFB due to delays and eventually launched from Omelek Island.
SpaceX originally intended to launch their first launch vehicle, the Falcon 1, from Space Launch Complex 3 West (SLC-3W) at Vandenberg Space Force Base. SLC-3W was modified by SpaceX to support the Falcon 1, and the Falcon 1 was erected on the pad in 2005. Problems arose when SpaceX was unable to obtain sufficient launch window availability because the pad would overfly other Air Force pads that were frequently left occupied for weeks or months at a time, thus severely restricting SpaceX launches.[31] Ultimately, this launch pad was never used for orbital launch, although it was used for a number of ground tests.
SpaceX originally planned to upgrade the Omelek launch site for use by the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, but later cancelled their plans to do so, and have since disassembled the entire installation. In December 2010, the SpaceX launch manifest listed Omelek (Kwajalein) as a potential site for several Falcon 9 launches, the first planned for as early as 2012.[36] The "Falcon 9 Overview" document also offered Kwajalein as a launch option in 2010.[37] Since then, the FAA Environmental Impact Report of May 2014 lists this site as non-operational and returned to its original state, to no longer be used, "Five Falcon 1 launches occurred at Omelek Island, Kwajalein Atoll. After these launches of the Falcon 1, the site was no longer needed and SpaceX closed the site and returned the property to pre-launch conditions".[38] All Falcon 1 launches took place at this location, five launches from 2006 to 2009. SpaceX abandoned Omelek when Falcon 1 was retired, due to the expense of logistics.
SpaceX Rocket Development and Test Facility, McGregor, Texas
SpaceX McGregor engine test bunker, September 2012
SpaceX's Rocket Development and Test Facility in McGregor, Texas is used for research and development of new rocket engines and thrusters as well as for testing final manufactured engines, various components, and engines during development.[40] Although SpaceX manufactures all of their rocket engines and thrusters at their Hawthorne headquarters, each must pass through McGregor where the company tests each new engine off of the assembly line as well as those being developed for future missions to orbit and beyond[41] before each one can be used on a flight mission. "The company's headquarters and factory in ... southern California gets a lot of the attention, but most of the noisy, dirty and critical testing work is done just outside this small central Texas town nestled in amid the farm fields."[41] Extensive and repeated rocket engine testing is a key to increasing reliability and thereby mission success, while lowering operating cost for SpaceX.[42]Dragon spacecraft, following use on a space mission, splashdown and recovery, are shipped to McGregor for de-fueling, cleanup, and refurbishment for potential reuse in flight missions.[41]
In 2003,[43] the company leased the McGregor testing facilities of defunct Beal Aerospace—on land formerly used for the World War II Bluebonnet Ordnance Plant[40]—where it refitted the largest test stand at the facilities for Falcon 9 engine testing. SpaceX has made a number of improvements to the facility since purchase, and has also extended the size of the facility by purchasing several pieces of adjacent farmland. The area to support the test facility was initially just 256 acres (104ha)[40] but by April 2011 this more than doubled to over 600 acres (240ha).[44] With only three initial employees onsite, the facility grew to over 140 employees by late 2011.
In 2011, the company announced plans to upgrade the facility for launch testing a VTVL rocket, known as Grasshopper,[45] and then constructed a half-acre concrete launch facility in 2012 to support the test flight program.[46] After 8 flights of Grasshopper, and 5 flights of its successor "F9R Dev1" between 2012 and 2014, the FAA permit to fly Grasshopper flight tests in Texas expired in October 2014.[47]
As of October2012[update], the McGregor facility consisted of seven test stands operated 18 hours a day, six days a week,[41] and was building more test stands because production was ramping up and the company had a large manifest in the next several years. As of September2013[update], the McGregor facility operated 11 test stands involved in the rocket engine test program, and was averaging two tests each day. The largest test stand by 2013 was the 82 meters (269ft) tall Falcon 9 tripod.[48]As of March2015[update], the facility comprised 4,000 acres (1,600ha),[49] with 12 test stands; it had run over 4000 Merlin engine tests, including some 50 firings of the integrated nine-engine first stage.[49] In May 2016, the McGregor City Council instituted more restrictive rules on rocket engine, rocket stage, and low-altitude flight testing. SpaceX has not commented publicly on how the new rules will affect their testing operations, nor whether they will be evaluating other locations where they might conduct such testing.[50]
The first scaled methane-fueled Raptor rocket engine, manufactured at the Hawthorne facility in California, shipped to McGregor by August 2016 for development testing.[51]
In 2019, SpaceX begin refitting the original vertical test stand at McGregor—previously used for testing Falcon 9 booster stages and second stages starting in the mid-2000s—to be a vertical test stand for Raptor rocket engines to add test capabilities not present in their multiple-bay Raptor test stand.[52] Rocket engines designed for many uses, tested constantly in horizontal test stands with a gravity gradient orthogonal to the turbine pumps, have somewhat differing wear characteristics on the bearing surfaces which increases wear on startup and shutdown.[53]
In July 2021, SpaceX announced that they would be building a second production facility for Raptor engines, this one at the McGregor 4,280 acres (1,730ha) facility. The Dallas Morning News reported in July that Spacex will "break ground soon" and that the facility will concentrate on the serial production of Raptor 2, while the California facility will produce Raptor Vacuum and new/experimental Raptor designs. The new facility is expected to eventually produce 800 to 1000 rocket engines each year, approximately 2 to 4 each day.[54][55]
In 2013, SpaceX constructed a 30-by-30-meter (98ft ×98ft) pad at Spaceport America, 7 kilometers (4.3mi) southwest of the spaceport's main campus, and will lease the pad for US$6,600 per month plus US$25,000 per Grasshopper flight. The spaceport administrator expected SpaceX to be operational at the Spaceport between October 2013 and February 2014, and anticipated that the lease payments would begin at that time.[59][60] By May 2014, SpaceX expended more than US$2 million on construction of the New Mexico facility, and is using more than 20 local firms to work on the project. Work items have included modifying the Range Operations Plan as well as a variety of fire-prevention measures.[61]
While in July 2014 the first test flight was still expected to occur sometime in 2014,[62] reports in October 2014 indicated that the first flight of F9R Dev2 at Spaceport America would not occur until the first half of 2015.[63] On 19 February 2015, SpaceX announced that the F9R Dev2 would be discontinued indicating that ocean tests using operational Falcon 9 rockets were sufficiently successful that it was no longer necessary.[64] Instead the New Mexico site will be used for testing the returned first stages.[citation needed]
During April 2015, SpaceX performed tanking tests on the In-Flight Abort rocket on the Vandenberg Space Force BaseSLC-4E. Since this rocket only possessed three Merlin 1D engines, it was speculated that the discontinued F9R Dev2 was re-purposed as the launch vehicle in the In-Flight Abort Test.[65]
SpaceX Starbase
Map showing proposed locations of the control center and vertical launch area at the Texas facility, from the FAA draft Environmental Impact Statement, April 2013
During 2011–2014, SpaceX considered as many as seven potential locations around the country for a new private launch facility for orbital flights, including Alaska, California, Florida,[68]Texas, Virginia,[69]Georgia,[70] and Puerto Rico.[71] One of the proposed locations for the new commercial-mission-only spaceport was south Texas, which was revealed in April 2012, via preliminary regulatory documentation. The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation began a multi-year process to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement[72] and public hearings on the new launch site, which would be located in Cameron County, Texas. The site was to initially support up to 12 commercial launches per year, including two Falcon Heavy launches.[73][74][75]
As early as March 2013, Texas became the leading candidate for the location of the new SpaceX commercial launch facility, although Florida, Georgia and other locations remained in the running. Legislation was introduced in the Texas Legislature in early 2013 that would enable temporary closings of State beaches during launches, limit liability for noise and some other specific commercial spaceflight risks, while the legislature also considered a package of incentives to encourage SpaceX to locate at the Brownsville, Texas location.[76] The Texas incentive package and beach closing legislation is in place. In October 2013, CEO Musk said that "Texas is looking increasingly likely," waiting for final regulatory approvals.[2] The FAA released the draft Environmental Impact Statement in April 2013, and "found that 'no impacts would occur' that would force the Federal Aviation Administration to deny SpaceX a permit for rocket operations near Brownsville."[77]
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider, defense contractor and satellite communications company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and ultimately developing a sustainable colony on Mars. The company currently operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets along with the Dragon and Starship spacecraft.
Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is the first of Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39B, was first designed to accommodate the Saturn V launch vehicle. Typically used to launch NASA's crewed spaceflight missions since the late 1960s, the pad was leased by SpaceX and has been modified to support their launch vehicles.
Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built as the Apollo program's "Moonport" and later modified for the Space Shuttle program.
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. It can also be used as an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle. The first Falcon 9 launch was on 4 June 2010. The first Falcon 9 commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched on 8 October 2012. In 2020 it became the first commercial rocket to launch humans to orbit and remains the only such vehicle. It is the only U.S. rocket certified for transporting humans to the ISS. In 2022, it became the U.S. rocket with the most launches in history and with the best safety record, having suffered just one flight failure.
Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), sometimes pronounced Slick Forty and previously Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) is a launch pad for rockets located at the north end of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
Vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) is a form of takeoff and landing for rockets. Multiple VTVL craft have flown. The most successful VTVL vehicle was the Apollo Lunar Module which delivered the first humans to the Moon. Building on the decades of development, SpaceX utilised the VTVL concept for its flagship Falcon 9 first stage, which has delivered over two hundred successful powered landings so far.
Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4) is a launch and landing site at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, U.S. It has two pads, both of which are used by SpaceX for Falcon 9, one for launch operations, and the other as Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) for SpaceX landings.
Launch Complex 13 (LC-13) was a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the third-most southerly of the original launch complexes known as Missile Row, lying between LC-12 and LC-14. In 2015, the LC-13 site was leased by SpaceX and was renovated for use as Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, the company's East Coast landing location for returning Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicle booster stages. It is leased by US Space Force to Phantom Space and Vaya Space who will operate this launch complex after the termination of SpaceX's lease in future.
Falcon 9 prototypes were experimental flight test reusable rockets that performed vertical takeoffs and landings. The project was privately funded by SpaceX, with no funds provided by any government until later on. Two prototypes were built, and both were launched from the ground.
SpaceX manufactures launch vehicles to operate its launch provider services and to execute its various exploration goals. SpaceX currently manufactures and operates the Falcon 9 Block 5 family of medium-lift launch vehicles and the Falcon Heavy family of heavy-lift launch vehicles – both of which are powered by SpaceX Merlin engines and employ VTVL technologies to reuse the first stage. As of 2024, the company is also developing the fully reusable Starship launch system, which will replace the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
SpaceX has privately funded the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times, similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has developed technologies over the last decade to facilitate full and rapid reuse of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site within minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad, following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal would have been reusability of both stages of their orbital launch vehicle, and the first stage would be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return. Development of reusable second stages for Falcon 9 was later abandoned in favor of developing Starship, however, SpaceX developed reusable payload fairings for the Falcon 9.
Starbase is an industrial complex for Starship rockets, located at Boca Chica, Texas, United States. It has been under construction since the late 2010s by SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer. Starbase is composed of a spaceport near the Gulf of Mexico, a production facility at the Boca Chica village, and a small structure test site along the Texas State Highway 4.
The Dragon 2 DragonFly was a prototype suborbital rocket-powered test vehicle for a propulsively-landed version of the SpaceX Dragon 2. DragonFly underwent testing in Texas at the McGregor Rocket Test Facility in October 2015. However, the development eventually ceased as the verification burden imposed by NASA was too great to justify it.
The Falcon 9 first-stage landing tests were a series of controlled-descent flight tests conducted by SpaceX between 2013 and 2016. Since 2017, the first stage of Falcon 9 missions has been routinely landed if the rocket performance allowed it, and if SpaceX chose to recover the stage.
Falcon 9 Full Thrust is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, designed and manufactured by SpaceX. It was first designed in 2014–2015, with its first launch operations in December 2015. As of 25 March 2024, Falcon 9 Full Thrust had performed 294 launches without any failures. Based on the Laplace point estimate of reliability, this rocket is the most reliable orbital launch vehicle in operation.
Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for recovering components of SpaceX's VTVL reusable launch vehicles. LZ-1 and LZ-2 were built on land leased in February 2015, on the site of the former Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 13. SpaceX built Landing Zone 2 at the facility to have a second landing pad, allowing two Falcon Heavy boosters to land simultaneously.
This is a corporate history of SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer and spacetransport services company founded by Elon Musk.
SpaceXCrew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test was a successful test of the SpaceX Dragon 2 abort system, conducted on 19 January 2020. It was the final assessment for the Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 launch system before they would be certified to carry humans into space. Booster B1046.4 and an uncrewed capsule C205 were launched from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) on a suborbital trajectory, followed by an in-flight abort of the capsule at max Q and supersonic speed. The test was carried out successfully: the capsule pulled itself away from the booster after launch control commanded the abort, and landed safely.
Boca Chica is an area on the eastern portion of a subdelta peninsula of Cameron County, at the far south of the US State of Texas along the Gulf Coast. It is bordered by the Brownsville Ship Channel to the north, the Rio Grande and Mexico to the south, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. The area extends about 25 miles (40 km) east of the city of Brownsville. The peninsula is served by Texas State Highway 4—also known as the Boca Chica Highway, or Boca Chica Boulevard within Brownsville city limits—which runs east-west, terminating at the Gulf and Boca Chica Beach.
↑ Elon Musk (29 September 2017). Becoming a Multiplanet Species (video). 68th annual meeting of the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia: SpaceX. Archived from the original on 9 March 2018. Retrieved 2017-12-14– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
↑ Gannes, Liz (2013-05-30). "36:03". Tesla CEO and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk: The Full D11 Interview (Video). All Things D (Video interview). Archived from the original on 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2013-05-31. hopeful that sometime in the next couple of years we'll be able to achieve full and rapid reusability of the first stage—which is about three-quarters of the cost of the rocket—and then with a future design architecture, achieve full reusability.
↑ Elon Musk (April 5, 2011). Falcon Heavy Press Conference (video). SpaceX. (@27:20:We actually have been steadily acquiring the buildings around us in California. So we're sort of growing like the Borg. Actually, almost all the buildings around us have been acquired and that's increased our capacity in California by about 50% in terms of real estate, but I think we can actually do a lot more with the existing physical locations we have. Actually, I really like density. I like a beehive of activity and people fairly close together. I think it creates a much better esprit de corps. You may have seen the announcement that in Texas we have more than doubled the size of our rocket development facility in Texas which is where we do development and acceptance testing of the rocket engines and stages and that's in anticipation of a lot more growth. So we're now at over 600 acres in Texas.)
↑ "Reusable rocket prototype almost ready for first liftoff". Spaceflight Now. 2012-07-09. Archived from the original on 2013-05-21. Retrieved 2012-07-13. SpaceX has constructed a half-acre concrete launch facility in McGregor, and the Grasshopper rocket is already standing on the pad, outfitted with four insect-like silver landing legs.
↑ "Commercial Space Data / Active Permits". FAA Data & Research. U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved 2013-11-19. Permit no. EP 12-008, Company: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, Vehicle: Grasshopper, Location: Texas, Expiration: Oct 17, 2014
1 2 Gwynne Shotwell (17 March 2015). "Statement Of Gwynne Shotwell, President & Chief Operating Officer, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)"(PDF). Congressional testimony. US House of Representatives, Committee On Armed Services Subcommittee On Strategic Forces. Archived(PDF) from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 2016-01-11. SpaceX's 4,000 acre Rocket Development Facility in Central Texas includes 12 test stands that support engine component testing; design, qualification and acceptance testing of Merlin engines; structural testing of the first and second stages; and fully integrated stage testing for full mission durations. The state-of-the-art facility has remote and/or automatic controls and high-speed data acquisition systems, and post test data are available for analysis upon test completion.
↑ "SpaceX Joining Virgin Galactic at Spaceport America". Sci-Tech Today. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-09. SpaceX will be paying $6,600 a month to lease a mobile mission control facility and will pay the state $25,000 per launch.
↑ "Details Emerge on SpaceX's Proposed Texas Launch Site". Space News. 2012-04-16. p.24. SpaceX is considering multiple potential locations around the country for a new commercial launch pad. ... The Brownsville area is one of the possibilities.
↑ Martinez, Laura B. (2013-04-15). "FAA shares SpaceX EIS report". The Brownsville Herald. Archived from the original on 2020-04-26. Retrieved 2013-04-17. 'no impacts would occur' that would force the Federal Aviation Administration to deny SpaceX a permit for rocket operations near Brownsville.
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