Kennedy Space Center

The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on <a href="/facts/Merritt_Island%2c_Florida/xT3Takm3">Merritt Island, Florida</a>, is one of the <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">National Aeronautics and Space Administration</a>'s (NASA) ten <a href="/facts/NASA_facilities/r9je3VFn">field centers</a>. Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the <a href="/facts/Apollo_Program/IC1Ek1Ao">Apollo</a>, <a href="/facts/Skylab/h7v9LWKE">Skylab</a> and <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Program/6Ikdvwsw">Space Shuttle</a> programs were carried out from <a href="/facts/Kennedy_Space_Center_Launch_Complex_39/eyNUJcgR">Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39</a> and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to <a href="/facts/Cape_Canaveral_Space_Force_Station/dwJ9MCPH">Cape Canaveral Space Force Station</a> (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources, and operate facilities on each other's property.
Though the first Apollo flights and all <a href="/facts/Project_Mercury/H8zqFzbC">Project Mercury</a> and <a href="/facts/Project_Gemini/7PYE3AV4">Project Gemini</a> flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate. Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch control center in Florida (<a href="/facts/Mercury_Control_Center/MxdvUCec">Mercury Control Center</a>, later the <a href="/facts/Launch_Control_Center/7K5CweED">Launch Control Center</a>) began handing off control of the vehicle to the <a href="/facts/Christopher_C._Kraft_Jr._Mission_Control_Center/8DxahkB2">Mission Control Center</a> in <a href="/facts/Houston/1v8AwQUN">Houston</a>, shortly after liftoff; in prior missions it held control throughout the entire mission.
Additionally, the center manages launch of robotic and commercial crew missions and researches food production and <a href="/facts/In-situ_resource_utilization/nfgDk04a">in-situ resource utilization</a> for off-Earth exploration. Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user <a href="/facts/Spaceport/y2SJQ8Wr">spaceport</a> through industry partnerships, even adding a new launch pad (<a href="/facts/Kennedy_Space_Center_Launch_Complex_39/eyNUJcgR">LC-39C</a>) in 2015.
There are about 700 facilities and buildings grouped throughout the center's 144,000 acres (580 km2). Among the unique facilities at KSC are the 525-foot (160 m) tall <a href="/facts/Vehicle_Assembly_Building/UIc81qxV">Vehicle Assembly Building</a> for stacking NASA's largest rockets, the <a href="/facts/Launch_Control_Center/7K5CweED">Launch Control Center</a>, which conducts space launches at KSC, the <a href="/facts/Operations_and_Checkout_Building/UwCz8DmE">Operations and Checkout Building</a>, which houses the astronauts' dormitories and suit-up area, a <a href="/facts/Space_Station_Processing_Facility/56smHCDH">Space Station factory</a>, and a 3-mile (4.8 km) long <a href="/facts/Shuttle_Landing_Facility/H0gDKXCV">Shuttle Landing Facility</a>. There is also a <a href="/facts/Kennedy_Space_Center_Visitor_Complex/1dcnSn7u">Visitor Complex</a> on site that is open to the public.

Kennedy Space Center open-in-new

Kennedy Space Center