Implementing the Future of Horizontal Launch and Landing at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport

Paper number

IAC-19,D2,2,2,x55113

Author

Mr. Jimmy Moffitt, United States, Space Florida

Coauthor

Mr. Pete Eggert, United States, Space Florida

Coauthor

Mr. Brian Gulliver, United States, Kimley-Horn

Coauthor

Mrs. Madison Vercelli, United States, Kimley-Horn

Year

2019

Abstract

The Cape Canaveral Spaceport is a multi-user spaceport that consists of a mix of commercial and federal launch sites within the historical Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station boundary, on the east coast of Florida in the United States. Space Florida oversees and manages property agreements between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Air Force (USAF) and commercial space tenants for the redevelopment of federal land for commercial space and aerospace applications. One such agreement is the 30-year lease for the historic Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) which transfers operational management and maintenance responsibility from NASA to Space Florida.

On November 8, 2018, Space Florida received a Launch Site Operator License (LSOL) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) to operate the SLF as commercial launch site. Although the SLF is one of the newest commercially licensed launch facilities within the United States, it has a storied history of supporting spaceflight since 1976, when it was originally constructed to support the NASA Space Shuttle Program. While the history of the SLF is connected with reentry of the NASA space shuttle orbiter, the future of the facility will be much more diverse and support a wide range of launch and reentry systems.

Space Florida is actively implementing planning, design and construction at the SLF to expand its capabilities to support launch, reentry, manufacturing, testing, and vehicle processing. This paper explores the history of the SLF, the recent FAA licensing, and future development plans to expand horizontal launch and landing capabilities at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.

Abstract document

IAC-19,D2,2,2,x55113.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-19,D2,2,2,x55113.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.