Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39

Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a <a href="/facts/Rocket_launch_site/VXxne6zV">rocket launch site</a> at the <a href="/facts/John_F._Kennedy_Space_Center/zmwszuPr">John F. Kennedy Space Center</a> on <a href="/facts/Merritt_Island,_Florida/xT3Takm3">Merritt Island</a> in <a href="/facts/Florida/cF245A3Q">Florida</a>, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built as the <a href="/facts/Apollo_program/IC1Ek1Ao">Apollo program</a>'s "Moonport" and later modified for the <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_program/6Ikdvwsw">Space Shuttle program</a>.
Launch Complex 39 consists of three launch sub-complexes or "pads"—<a href="/facts/Kennedy_Space_Center_Launch_Complex_39A/pnH83f5s">39A</a>, <a href="/facts/Kennedy_Space_Center_Launch_Complex_39B/TS56c5d6">39B</a>, and 39C—a <a href="/facts/Vehicle_Assembly_Building/UIc81qxV">Vehicle Assembly Building</a> (VAB), a <a href="/facts/Crawlerway/XGvzC54R">Crawlerway</a> used by <a href="/facts/Crawler-transporter/Jawe1qqn">crawler-transporters</a> to carry <a href="/facts/Mobile_launcher_platform/1RHRetcl">mobile launcher platforms</a> between the VAB and the pads, <a href="/facts/Orbiter_Processing_Facility/heIXJAvP">Orbiter Processing Facility</a> buildings, a <a href="/facts/Launch_Control_Center/7K5CweED">Launch Control Center</a> which contains the firing rooms, a <a href="/facts/Launch_Complex_39_Press_Site/KEsYytTQ">news facility</a> famous for the iconic countdown clock seen in television coverage and photos, and various logistical and operational support buildings.
SpaceX leases Launch Complex 39A from NASA and has modified the pad to support <a href="/facts/Falcon_9/mNck6vby">Falcon 9</a> and <a href="/facts/Falcon_Heavy/vh7so7BW">Falcon Heavy</a> launches.
<a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> began modifying Launch Complex 39B in 2007 to accommodate the now defunct <a href="/facts/Constellation_program/cRaB3DjN">Constellation program</a>, and is currently prepared for the <a href="/facts/Artemis_program/QHBrKFI8">Artemis program</a>, which was first launched in November 2022. A pad to be designated 39C, which would have been a copy of pads 39A and 39B, was originally planned for Apollo but never built. A smaller pad, also designated 39C, was constructed from January to June 2015, to accommodate <a href="/facts/Small-lift_launch_vehicle/aXBdfESc">small-lift launch vehicles</a>.
NASA launches from pads 39A and 39B have been supervised from the NASA <a href="/facts/Launch_Control_Center/7K5CweED">Launch Control Center</a> (LCC), located 3 miles (4.8 km) from the launch pads. LC-39 is one of several launch sites that share the radar and tracking services of the <a href="/facts/Eastern_Range/FppmhMY8">Eastern Test Range</a>.

Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 open-in-new

Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39