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Mobile launcher platform
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<p>A mobile launcher platform (MLP), also known as mobile launch platform, is a structure used to support a large <a href="/facts/Multistage_rocket/WNrmgztj">multistage</a> <a href="/facts/Space_vehicle/aVPHlm59">space vehicle</a> which is assembled (stacked) vertically in an integration facility (e.g. the <a href="/facts/Vehicle_Assembly_Building/UIc81qxV">Vehicle Assembly Building</a>) and then transported by a <a href="/facts/Crawler-transporter/Jawe1qqn">crawler-transporter</a> (CT) to a <a href="/facts/Launch_pad/6ePPb2ac">launch pad</a>. This becomes the support structure for <a href="/facts/Rocket_launch/b6j4keIl">launch</a>. </p><p>The use of mobile launcher platform is a part of the Integrate-Transfer-Launch (ITL) system, which involves vertical assembly, transport, and launch of rockets. The concept was first implemented in the 1960s for the <a href="/facts/United_States_Air_Force/7MxWBYlc">United States Air Force</a>'s <a href="/facts/Titan_III/sTTkEDps">Titan III</a> rocket, and it was later used by <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> for <a href="/facts/Saturn_V/WhpUEFJM">Saturn V</a>, <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle/7BoyetEv">Space Shuttle</a>, and <a href="/facts/Space_Launch_System/DbGCgH1W">Space Launch System</a>. </p><p>There are alternatives to ITL. Horizontal assembly and transport to the pad is used by <a href="/facts/Roscosmos/GzWfae7U">Roscosmos</a>, by the <a href="/facts/United_Launch_Alliance/yWev1ndb">United Launch Alliance</a> for the <a href="/facts/Delta_IV/QWun0yHh">Delta IV</a> family, and by <a href="/facts/SpaceX/2tKHsVdJ">SpaceX</a> for the <a href="/facts/Falcon_9/mNck6vby">Falcon 9</a> family. Vertical assembly on the launch pad is used for smaller launch vehicles and for the <a href="/facts/SpaceX_Starship/zkm1P9kA">SpaceX Starship</a>. </p>