Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 48

Launch Complex 48 (LC-48) is a multi-user launch site under construction for small launchers and spacecraft. It will be located south of Launch Complex 39A and north of Space Launch Complex 41.[1] LC-48 will be constructed as a "clean pad" to support multiple launch systems with differing propellant needs. While initially only planned to have a single pad, the complex is capable of being expanded to two at a later date.[2] With another pad constructed, LC-48 could support up to 104 launches per year, though actual usage is expected to be well below that.[1]

Launch Complex 48
A render of Launch Complex 48
LocationKennedy Space Center
Short nameLC-48
OperatorNASA
Exploration Ground Systems

NASA had previously constructed LC-39C within the bounds of LC-39B with the purpose of serving small launchers, but the operational constraints of sharing the site on a non-interference basis with both the Space Launch System and OmegA launch vehicles, along with greater interest by commercial parties than originally anticipated, led NASA to pursue the construction of a dedicated launch site for this class of vehicles.[3]

  • The location of the Launch Complex 48 site
  • A render of the two-pad LC-48
  • A composite photo of a two-pad LC-48
  • Ditto
  • A render of Boeing's XS-1 Phantom Express launch vehicle on LC-48
  • From another angle

See also

References

Citations
  1. Kelly, Emre (14 June 2019). "Meet Launch Complex 48, NASA's new small rocket pad at Kennedy Space Center". Florida Today. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  2. Draft Environmental Assessment for Launch Complex 48, 2019, pp. ii-iii, Proposed Action.
  3. Draft Environmental Assessment for Launch Complex 48, 2019, p. 4.

Sources
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