SpaceX demos ULA launch site for future Starship launches

SpaceX has begun the process of clearing the launch site once used by its rival, now expected to be used for the company’s Starship rocket. This comes as SpaceX continues the growth of its Starship system on the East Coast but struggles to get its launch rate up at Starbase.

Boom goes the towers. Thursday morning, SpaceX demo’d ULA’s SLC-37 launch site, bringing down both the two lightning protection towers and mobile service structure in one go. The largest launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the pad will likely be turned into two launch sites for SpaceX’s Starship rocket.

For over two decades, SLC-37 has been home to ULA’s Delta IV rocket and has hosted some of NASA’s and the military’s most important and largest payloads. That was until April of 2024, when ULA launched its final Delta IV Heavy rocket, retiring the Delta rocket family name and SLC-37 as its home.

What was one of the most mental launch pads, having an entire building move to uncover a fully assembled rocket, now lies as rubble on the ground, ready to be reborn in SpaceX’s vision of the future.

Hello new tenants. SpaceX has received a “right of limited entry” from the Space Force before receiving a finalized lease and environmental approval to begin work and planning for SLC-37’s future. First in that step was to remove ULA’s old structures, as it will not use any of them since Starship will be much too tall to utilize any of it.

This week, SpaceX also moved past its first hurdle of red tape with a draft Environmental Impact Statement stating it found no impact to the launch of up to 76 Starship rockets a year from the site. There is more to come, including more public hearings and scoping by the federal and local authorities before a final Environmental Impact Statement can be published and a lease signed.

SpaceX hopes to begin launching rockets from SLC-37 sometime next year; however, if we look at how long it has taken to get Pad B completed in Starbase, 2028 may be a better launch date. SpaceX is also working first on getting LC-39A’s Starship launch mount finished this year, which will likely take priority.

SpaceX is also building its own version of the “Starfactory,” complete with a Megabay, at Kennedy Space Center, which already exists at Starbase.

Starship teething troubles. Before any of that can happen, SpaceX will need to work out the kinks in the current Starship production process. We are awaiting plans and potential dates for Starship Flight 10, the fourth flight of Starship Block 2. While the Block 1 boosters that have been flying are performing well, the Block 2 Starship second stages have repeatedly run into problems mid-flight.

Flight 7, 8, and 9 have all concluded well before all mission objectives have been met, most importantly testing of the vehicle’s new heat shield. While SpaceX makes progress in improving the vehicle and gathering more flight data with each flight, its goal of 25 Starship launches this year is unlikely to now happen, pushing its timeline to get to orbit, demo orbital refueling, and landing on the Moon all behind.

These steps are all key tests needed before NASA can use Starship as its lander for the Artemis 3 mission, slated to begin as soon as 2027.