A Historic Pad Gets a Historic Upgrade

SpaceX is working hard to get historic Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ready for launches of its Starship megarocket. This is no ordinary construction project. The centerpiece of the Florida expansion is Launch Complex 39A — the same historic pad that launched Apollo 11 and countless Space Shuttle missions. Now, it’s being transformed once again to support what is arguably the most ambitious rocket program in history.

Standing at approximately 408 feet (124 meters) tall, Starship is the largest rocket ever built. That sheer scale demanded a complete reimagining of the pad’s infrastructure. Starship utilizes Raptor engines that burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen, differing from the rocket-grade kerosene used by Falcon vehicles — a propellant difference that required the installation of an entirely new tank farm at Pad 39A. The work at Pad 39A began in late 2021.

Construction Done, Testing Underway

“Things are going super well at 39A,” said Julianna Scheiman, director of NASA science and Dragon programs at SpaceX, during a briefing on October 1 that primarily discussed that day’s launch of the Crew-13 astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Her confidence was backed by real progress on the ground.

The pad’s new Starship launch tower is nearly complete, as is most other essential construction at the site. “We’ve essentially done a lot of the initial build of the structures and the systems needed for launching Starship, and we’re beginning to step into the sort of acceptance testing and operational testing prior to activation,” she said. “So, we’re kind of through the main construction and going into the proofing, testing — activation testing.”

Pad 39A now also features giant “chopstick” arms to help catch and recover Starship rockets — the same mechanical catching system that has become one of SpaceX’s most jaw-dropping engineering achievements. The FAA approved Starship operations at 39A in February 2026 following a 16-month environmental review, authorizing up to 44 Starship-Super Heavy launches and 88 landings per year from that site alone.

Florida Could See Starship as Soon as Flight 16

All 14 of Starship’s test flights to date have lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase site in South Texas — including the most recent, on September 28, which saw Starship reach orbit for the first time. But Florida’s moment may be coming faster than many expected.

SpaceX plans to launch at least one more Starship test flight from Starbase before flying the megarocket out of KSC — meaning the first Florida Starship launch could come as soon as Flight 16. Ship 43, designated for Flight 16, is actively preparing inside Starbase’s Mega Bay 2 for a potential launch from Launch Complex 39A — a move that would mark the first-ever Starship launch from the Cape and a significant step in SpaceX’s ambition to operate the world’s largest rocket from multiple sites.

The Bigger Picture: A Launch Empire in the Making

SpaceX is working to get three pads on Florida’s Space Coast ready for Starship. Beyond that, SpaceX plans to break ground next year on an even bigger Starship launch site — the $100 billion, 12-pad Starbase Louisiana complex. The scale of ambition is staggering.

Expansion of Starship production and launch operations in Florida will enable SpaceX to significantly increase the build and flight rates for Starship, which will be the first rapidly and fully reusable launch vehicle in history. Twelve new pads seems like overkill, unless you know that SpaceX aims to launch more than 10,000 Starship missions per year by 2030. Whether or not that number proves realistic, the infrastructure being built right now — pad by pad, test by test — is laying the foundation for a new era of spaceflight that could fundamentally change how humanity accesses orbit.