In a strategic push to bolster launch infrastructure amid growing military and commercial demands for orbital access, the United States Space Force has issued two separate Requests for Information (RFIs) in late December 2025, signaling its intent to make prime real estate available for large-scale rockets on the East and West Coasts.
The first RFI targets Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida’s Space Coast.
This historic site, located at the southern tip of Cape Canaveral just south of Blue Origin’s Launch Complex 36, has a history dating back to the late 1980s.
Originally built to support U.S. Navy Trident missile tests, SLC-46 has since hosted a mix of suborbital and limited orbital missions.
These include two Lockheed Martin Athena launches in the 1990s, a Minotaur mission in 2017, and two attempts by Astra’s Rocket 3.3 in 2022 (both unsuccessful).
More recently, it served NASA’s Orion Ascent Abort-2 test in 2018 and has been a key venue for military missile demonstrations over the Atlantic.
The Space Force defines “super heavy-lift” capability as rockets able to deliver more than 50,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit—a threshold met by very few vehicles currently in development.
The RFI emphasizes increasing launch diversity on the Eastern Range, explicitly stating that the goal is to introduce new launch vehicles rather than provide additional pads for existing ones.
This criterion could limit interest from dominant players like SpaceX, which is already developing multiple pads for its Starship vehicle on the East Coast, including ongoing work at Space Launch Complexes 37 and 39A. However, the only other site SpaceX has officially cited interest in has been LC-49, which then stalled during an environmental process with NASA.
Envisioning of LC-49 from 39A via Jay DeShelter for NSF L2.
Blue Origin could be interested, having recently flown its New Glenn rocket from nearby Launch Complex 36, and is now developing a more powerful variant (potentially 9×4 configuration).
A dedicated pad at SLC-46 could enable a higher launch cadence for New Glenn or future larger iterations, especially as the company ramps up operations to meet national security and commercial needs. Alternative pads for Blue Origin, outside of the KSC/Cape area, have also been rumored.
The Space Force has made clear that any lease of SLC-46 is conditional on the U.S. Navy first relocating its ongoing operations from the site to another location on the Space Coast—a process the military branch would handle independently. Once complete, the selected launch provider would be responsible for removing any remaining Navy-related infrastructure.
Just eleven days later, on December 30, 2025, the Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 30 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California released a second RFI for a proposed new facility: Space Launch Complex 14 (SLC-14).
Located at the extreme southeast end of the base—near the dock historically used by SpaceX and United Launch Alliance to receive boosters and fairings—this undeveloped site is envisioned to support both heavy-lift (20,000 kg+ to orbit) and super heavy-lift vehicles.
Unlike the Florida RFI, Vandenberg’s proposal is more inclusive, potentially accommodating a broader range of rockets. Candidates could include Relativity Space’s Terran R (targeting up to 33,000 kg to orbit) or Blue Origin’s New Glenn’s West Coast aspirations.
SpaceX, while lacking a current Starship proposal for Vandenberg, could potentially adapt existing infrastructure under its tenure, such as Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6), in the future, although officially it is only designated for Falcon launches at present.
A render of Falcon Heavy on SLC-6. (Credit: Jay DeShelter for NSF)
As to the reasons for this RFI, it’s likely focused on the Space Force’s broader goal of enhancing resilience and capacity for national security payloads. With increasing demand for satellites, hypersonic testing, and potential future missions—including orbital data centers requiring sun-synchronous or polar orbits—Vandenberg’s geography offers unique advantages.
Launches from the West Coast naturally favor high-inclination trajectories, making it ideal for constellations in polar or sun-synchronous paths, which are harder to achieve efficiently from Florida.
This was one of the primary interests with the ill-fated attempt to conduct polar orbit military launches from SLC-6 with Shuttle Discovery. Those plans came to a halt when the USAF reduced its interest in the Shuttle after the loss of Challenger in 1986.
Enterprise on the pad during fit checks at SLC-6. (Credit: NSF/L2)
Notably, these RFIs are not binding commitments but formal market surveys to gauge industry interest and capabilities. Responses are expected within weeks (with the Vandenberg deadline adjusted to 45 days), after which the Space Force would proceed to environmental reviews, safety analyses, and potential lease agreements.
If sufficient viable proposals emerge, the developments could dramatically expand options for super heavy-lift vehicles over the next decade.
The timing aligns with a rapidly evolving space landscape. In 2025, the U.S. witnessed record orbital launch activity, driven largely by SpaceX’s Starlink deployments and growing commercial satellite constellations. Meanwhile, competitors like Blue Origin and Relativity are advancing toward operational status with heavy-lift rockets.
The Pentagon’s push for more pads addresses potential bottlenecks, ensuring the military can access affordable, diverse, and frequent launch services without relying on a single provider.
(Lead Image: USAF launch out of SLC-46, the pad opened for RFI proposals – via NSF’s Space Coast Live)
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