February 13, 2015 at 15:13The military allowed SpaceX to build a platform for vertical landings on Cape Canaveral
SpaceX Company Ilona Maska received a launch pad No. 13 (Launch Complex 13, LC-13) for five years, which is located on the territory of the US Air Force base at Cape Canaveral. The order was signed by the commander of the 45th space squadron, Brigadier General Nina Armagno. According to the contract, SpaceX is entitled to equip the site for the landing of spacecraft such as Falcon, testing vertical landing which are now held on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
Launch pad number 13 is now under the control of the US Air Force. Between 1956 and 1978, it was used for test launches of Atlas-type intercontinental ballistic missiles, but by 2000 its use had ceased. No. 13 is also known for launching the Lunar Orbiter 1 satellite, which first sent Earth images from lunar orbit and was used by NASA to map the moon before the Apollo and Surveyor missions. Despite the fact that the site is in the U.S. Register of Historic Places, since it was mothballed there has not been proper control over it and, due to irreversible damage to metal structures, it was destroyed by a controlled explosion in 2005.
Launch of the Atlas rocket with the Mariner-4 satellite from launch pad No. 13
Now No. 13 represents(pdf) is a platform with a diameter of 228 meters of compressed soil and gravel that can withstand the vertical landing of a spacecraft. Next to it are 4 smaller auxiliary sites (approximately 45 meters in diameter) for emergency cases. SpaceX is committed to improving the site, building a new road and building the equipment necessary for launching.
Last July, SpaX also received permission from the US authorities to build a spaceport in Texas. Elon Musk plans to use it as the main platform for "tourist flights" and missions paid by the governments of different countries.
Launch pad number 13 is now under the control of the US Air Force. Between 1956 and 1978, it was used for test launches of Atlas-type intercontinental ballistic missiles, but by 2000 its use had ceased. No. 13 is also known for launching the Lunar Orbiter 1 satellite, which first sent Earth images from lunar orbit and was used by NASA to map the moon before the Apollo and Surveyor missions. Despite the fact that the site is in the U.S. Register of Historic Places, since it was mothballed there has not been proper control over it and, due to irreversible damage to metal structures, it was destroyed by a controlled explosion in 2005.
Launch of the Atlas rocket with the Mariner-4 satellite from launch pad No. 13
Now No. 13 represents(pdf) is a platform with a diameter of 228 meters of compressed soil and gravel that can withstand the vertical landing of a spacecraft. Next to it are 4 smaller auxiliary sites (approximately 45 meters in diameter) for emergency cases. SpaceX is committed to improving the site, building a new road and building the equipment necessary for launching.
Last July, SpaX also received permission from the US authorities to build a spaceport in Texas. Elon Musk plans to use it as the main platform for "tourist flights" and missions paid by the governments of different countries.