East Coast sees major progress for future operations at the Cape

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Amid recent Falcon 9 and Vulcan launches, a considerable amount of important construction work in the Cape Canaveral area has made major progress in the last few weeks. The structures under construction at the Cape will feature prominently in future spaceflight operations.

NSF conducted a flyover this week near the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), showing major progress for SpaceX’s Florida Starship operations and Blue Origin’s lunar ambitions, including the Artemis program’s Mobile Launcher 2 (ML2).

SpaceX

The Starship program is currently preparing to fly another launch out of Starbase in Texas, but the future of the program lies in Florida.

After a long period of minor activity at the tall Starship launch tower or other works at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), the company is now working to make the Starship launch pad operational at an increasing pace.

The Starship launch tower and pad at LC-39A during our flyover on Aug. 11. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF/L2)

NSF’s latest photos (L2 members – click here: for 1000s of hi-res KSC/Cape flyover pics) show assembly tents and a number of cranes and construction equipment surrounding the launch tower.

Rebar work is still going on in the flame trench, with bucket halves and trench wall sections being delivered. The foundation that will host the orbital launch mount, which is of the same design as the recently installed OLM at Pad 2 at Starbase, is still being worked on.

SpaceX plans to conduct a high cadence of Starship launch – and return – operations at KSC and CCAFS to support Starlink and customer satellite launches, Artemis human landing system operations, and the company’s Martian ambitions. To that end, the current Starship pad at LC-39A is just the first of several launch facilities that will host Starship flights.

Aerial view of SpaceX’s Roberts Road facility on Aug. 11, 2025. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF/L2)

A recent draft environmental impact statement for SpaceX’s latest Starship operations plans at LC-39A shows that the company plans to conduct up to 44 launches per year from the complex, along with 88 landings of the fully reusable system – 44 for the Super Heavy booster and 44 for the ship – at LC-39A or in the Atlantic, Pacific, or Indian oceans, with a possibility of drone ship landings.

This draft statement shows that SpaceX proposes a separate catch tower at the existing landing zone approved in 2019, along with a new air separation unit facility, deluge pond, and other facilities for propellant generation and storage.

In the meantime, construction is continuing on the tank farm and other structures approved by the 2019 “finding of no significant impact” approval that cleared the way for the Starship facility to be built at LC-39A.

The company is also now building the Giga Bay and planning a future Starfactory next to its current operation at Roberts Road. The Giga Bay foundation has made great progress, and the outline of the future building can be clearly seen. The Giga Bay is targeted to be operational by the end of 2026, and Starfactory, which will have 50 percent more floor space than its counterpart in Texas.

A new tower section and Mechazilla framework parts seen at Roberts Road on Aug. 11. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF/L2)

A new tower section has also been spotted at the Roberts Road facility, along with hardware for additional tower sections and pieces for a framework of a new set of Mechazilla arms. The section and Mechazilla arms might be for the proposed catch tower at LC-39A, while a tower at the former ULA Delta launch facility at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) is also a possibility. SLC-37 could eventually get up to four Starship-related towers, two for launch and two for landing, and host up to 76 launches per year.

**Click here for more NSF flyover articles**

Blue Origin

Blue Origin, fresh off its successful New Glenn first flight in January of this year, is busily preparing for upcoming flights of the partially reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle, while also working intensely on its Blue Moon lunar program. The company’s Exploration Park facility also has two new facilities that appear to have finished construction or are very close to finishing.

Preparations are underway for New Glenn’s second flight sometime in the coming months, with Glenn Stage 1 (GS1) being prepared for its upcoming static test firing campaign. Glenn Stage 2 (GS2) was successfully test-fired a while back, but more work was needed to finish GS1.

A GS1 test article seen at the SLC-36 New Glenn launch pad. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF/L2)

NSF photos this week show a GS1 test article at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 36 (SLC-36), which could be a preparatory exercise for GS1’s launch pad testing. Once GS1 is successfully test-fired, it will be moved to the integration hangar at SLC-36 to be mated with GS2 and the payload.

The GS1 aft section for flight 2, with its heat shield insulation applied, is being moved to the pad for testing, such as the extension of its landing legs. The section will later be integrated with the rest of the second flight’s GS1 stage.

The Lunar Plant 1 and its Blue Origin feather logo are seen here during the Aug. 11 flyover. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF/L2)

At Exploration Park, the Lunar Plant 1 building – at least its exterior – appears to be finished. The company will build future Blue Moon robotic and crewed lunar landers in this factory, and the completion of this building.

Next to Lunar Plant 1, the Metal Forming Facility now has its framework built up, while the Chemical Processing Facility on the south side of Exploration Park now appears to be complete. An expansion of the composite manufacturing building appears to be underway, and a new hardware integration facility is just getting started.

The GS1 aft section for Flight 2 on the move as seen from the air. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF/L2)

Other Companies

Stoke Space plans to field a fully reusable launch vehicle known as Nova. To that end, the company has worked intensively to build up its launch facility at Launch Complex 14 (LC-14), a former launch pad for the Mercury-Atlas crewed flights, while preparing to fly Nova as soon as early next year.

While Nova flight hardware is being built at Stoke’s factory in Kent, Washington, the buildout of LC-14 is well underway. The processing hangar where Nova will be prepared for flight has its structural framework built up, while the launch tower and four associated lightning towers are also under construction.

Stoke’s launch site construction via Julia Bergeron (NSF/L2)

Relativity is still working on its Terran R partially reusable launch vehicle and its launch facility at Launch Complex 16 (LC-16). LC-16 has already hosted the only Terran 1 launch, which was the company’s first-ever orbital attempt, and it hosted ballistic missile launches in the past.

LC-16’s processing facility for Terran R now has more of its structural framework, while additional work is still ongoing with the rest of the facility. The flame trench for the pad is in place, as is a tank farm, and the company is still attempting to fly Terran R from this pad no earlier than next year.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) was preparing for its third Vulcan launch, USSF-106, when the NSF flyover occurred. The VC4S launch vehicle – the first one of this variant to fly – was standing at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) being prepared for its successful launch on Wednesday, Aug. 13.

NASA’s Artemis program is continuing to work on ML2 despite budget uncertainty in Washington, and the launch tower for ML2 now has all of its sections.

The SLS ML2 seen during our flyover on Aug. 11. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF/L2)

Much work remains to finish the structure and test it in time for the Artemis IV mission, the first mission that will need ML2. ML2 is designed to support the SLS Block 1B and Block 2, which cannot be launched from the Mobile Launcher 1 used for the first three Artemis flights.

Marine Assets

As the space industry increasingly pivots toward partially or fully reusable launch vehicles, marine assets operated by space companies are an increasingly prominent part of the scene at Port Canaveral. SpaceX’s drone ship Just Read the Instructions is currently at the port along with a very toasty Falcon 9 first stage, B1080, that just completed its 21st flight.
Blue Origin’s landing barge Jacklyn was also seen at Port Canaveral, and it will be tasked with supporting the recovery of GS1 on the second flight of New Glenn. The first flight’s GS1 attempted to return back to Jacklyn but was unable to survive reentry, and the company hopes to succeed with its second flight.

As summer starts to transition into fall, the second flight of New Glenn is just one of the things to watch for at the Cape. Between SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA, Stoke Space, Relativity, and others, “The spaceport that never sleeps” is busier than ever, and that is expected to continue.

(Lead image: SpaceX’s SLC-40 and ULA’s SLC-41 pads seen here, along with the USSF-106 Vulcan rocket. Credit: Max Evans for NSF/L2)

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