SpaceX to Launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center

SpaceX has announced plans to launch its Starship spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center in Florida later this year. The company is currently building out a launch tower for the massive rocket at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A, and is also pursuing the right to build out a Starship pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 37.

According to SpaceX commentator Dan Huot, the company plans to complete the Starship launch pad at Pad 39-A this year, and intends to conduct the first Starship launch from Florida from Launch Pad 39-A later this year. However, the launch is pending the completion of environmental reviews.

Both the Kennedy Space Center and Canaveral sites are currently under environmental impact reviews. Canaveral's SLC-37 was previously used by United Launch Alliance, but the company performed its final Delta IV Heavy launch last year. SpaceX has been given a limited right of entry for Pad 37 to conduct further due diligence at the site in order to move forward with the environmental impact study.

SpaceX is also building a massive processing facility called "gigabay" in both Texas and Florida. The gigabay will be 380 feet tall with about 46.5 million cubic feet of interior processing space and 815,000 square feet of work space. This facility will allow the company to process more Starships at the same time, and is part of SpaceX's plans to build up infrastructure in Florida and potentially other launch sites to achieve hundreds and eventually thousands of Starship launches a year.

The company's ultimate goal is to create a colony on Mars, and the Starship launches from Kennedy Space Center are a crucial step towards achieving that goal. Environmental impact studies for both Florida sites were started in 2024 and are expected to be complete this year.