Elon Musk‘s rocket manufacturing company SpaceX said on Monday that it is looking to launch its ambitious Starship launch vehicle from Florida for the first time later this year.
What Happened: The company is building a new integration facility called Gigabay next to its HangarX facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX said. Gigabay will support Starship and Super Heavy vehicles up to 81 meters tall and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
The company is also putting up a Gigabay at Starbase, its headquarters in Texas, where all Starship manufacturing and launch activities currently take place, it said.
“As we work to complete the Gigabay in Florida, we are also designing and planning for a co-located manufacturing facility, similar to the Starfactory in Texas, to enable production of Starships in Florida,” SpaceX said in a statement. However, until manufacturing, integration, and refurbishment facilities are completed in Florida, completed Starship boosters and spacecraft will be transported from Starbase to Florida via barge, the company said.
The company is also looking to build a Starship launch and catch site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Given the company gets a green light following environmental reviews, SpaceX intends to launch Starship from Florida for the first time later this year, it said.
Why It Matters: The company also expressed interest in enabling Starship launches from Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, used until last year for the retired Delta IV rocket manufactured by United Launch Alliance (ULA). The company has got a permit for conducting further due diligence on the site, it said.
The Starship vehicle is part of big dreams. While NASA is looking forward to landing humans back on the surface of the Moon after a gap of over 50 years with the help of a custom version of Starship, Musk is dreaming of taking humans to the planet Mars aboard Starship. However, the vehicle is currently in the testing and development phase. Its eighth flight test, slated for Monday, was canceled seconds before liftoff after a vehicle issue was identified.
Once all facilities are up and running in both Florida and Texas, the company can ramp up the launch rate of the Starship, it said.
"…I would not be surprised if we fly 400 Starship launches in the next four years,” SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said at the Baron Investment Conference in New York in November.
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Photo courtesy: SpaceX
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