Launch Pad 39A served as the starting point for
many NASA missions, including the space shuttle Endeavour, ready on the launch
pad Feb. 6, 2010, just days before its launch from Kennedy Space Center in Cape
Canaveral, Florida.
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
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NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of
Hawthorne, Calif., to begin negotiations on a lease to use and operate historic
Launch Complex (LC) 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Permitting use and operation of this valuable national asset by a
private-sector, commercial space partner will ensure its continued viability and
allow for its continued use in support of U.S. space activities.
The reuse of LC-39A is part of NASA’s work to transform the Kennedy Space
Center into a 21st century launch complex capable of supporting both government
and commercial users. Kennedy is having success attracting significant private
sector interest in its unique facilities. The center is hard at work assembling
NASA’s Orion spacecraft and preparing its infrastructure for the Space Launch
System rocket, which will launch from LC-39B and take American astronauts into
deep space, including to an asteroid and Mars.
NASA made the selection decision Thursday after the U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO) denied a protest filed against the Agency by Blue
Origin LLC on Sept. 13. In its protest, Blue Origin raised concerns about the
competitive process NASA was using to try to secure a potential commercial
partner or partners to lease and use LC-39A. Blue Origin had argued the
language in the Announcement for Proposals (AFP) favored one proposed use of
LC-39A over others. The GAO disagreed.
While the GAO protest was underway, NASA was prohibited from selecting a
commercial partner for LC-39A from among the proposals submitted in response to
the agency's AFP that had been issued on May 23. However, while the GAO
considered the protest, NASA continued evaluating the proposals in order to be
prepared to make a selection when permitted to do so. After the GAO rendered
its decision Thursday in NASA’s favor, the agency completed its evaluation and
selection process.
NASA notified all proposers on Friday of its selection decision concerning
LC-39A. Further details about NASA’s decision will be provided to each proposer
when NASA furnishes the source selection statement to the proposers. In
addition, NASA will offer each the opportunity to meet to discuss NASA’s
findings related to the proposer’s individual proposal. NASA will release the
source selection statement to the public once each proposer has been consulted
to ensure that any proprietary information has been appropriately redacted.
NASA will begin working with SpaceX to negotiate the terms of its lease for
LC-39A. During those ongoing negotiations, NASA will not be able to discuss
details of the pending lease agreement.
Since the late 1960s, Kennedy's launch pads 39 A and B have served as the
starting point for America's most significant human spaceflight endeavors --
Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz and all 135 space shuttle missions. LC-39A is the
pad where Apollo 11 lifted off from on the first manned moon landing in 1969, as
well as launching the first space shuttle mission in 1981 and the last in
2011.
For information about Kennedy's Launch Complex 39A and ongoing work to
transform the center into a 21st century launch complex, visit
For information about NASA missions and programs, visit:
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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