Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), sometimes referred to as "Slick Forty," is one of two launch pads located at the Integrate-Transfer-Launch Complex in

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. It initially opened as Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) and was used by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

alongside the neighboring

Space Launch Complex 41 Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41), sometimes referred to as "Slick Forty-one," is one of two launch sites at the Integrate-Transfer-Launch Complex in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Originally built as Launch Complex 41 (LC-41), it and ...

for the

Titan III Titan was a family of United States expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. The Titan I and Titan II were part of the US Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fleet until 1987. The space launch vehicle versions contribu ...

program. It initially saw use by the

Titan IIIC The Titan IIIC was an expendable launch system used by the United States Air Force from 1965 until 1982. It was the first Titan (rocket family), Titan booster to feature large solid rocket motors and was planned to be used as a launcher for the D ...

throughout the 1960s and 1970s, before getting retrofitted for the

Titan 34D The Titan 34D was a United States expendable launch vehicle used to launch a number of satellites for military applications. Service history Derived from the Titan III, the Titan 34D featured Stage 1 and Stage 2 stretched with more powerful ...

during the 1980s. In the 1990s,

Martin Marietta The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Marie ...

and the Air Force upgraded it to launch the

Commercial Titan III The Commercial Titan III, also known as CT-3 or CT-III, was an American expendable launch system, developed by Martin Marietta during the late 1980s and flown four times during the early 1990s. It was derived from the Titan 34D, and was originall ...

, but the rocket's lack of success caused the pad to be used by the

Titan IV Titan IV was a family of heavy-lift space launch vehicles developed by Martin Marietta and operated by the United States Air Force from 1989 to 2005. Launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Vandenberg Air Forc ...

throughout the decade and into the 2000s. Following the Titan family's retirement, the SLC-40 lease was given to

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

in 2007 for use by their new rocket, the

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...

. Since the early 2010s, the pad has transformed into a high-volume launch site for the Falcon 9, being mainly used to service the company's

Starlink Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 130 countries ...

megaconstellation. As of June 2025, the pad has hosted over 255 Falcon 9 launches.

History

Titan IIIC and 34D (1965–1989)

Launch Complex 40 was originally constructed by the

as one of two launch pads of the Integrate-Transfer-Launch Complex (ITL), tasked with launching

rockets with

solid rocket booster A solid rocket booster (SRB) is a solid propellant motor used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from initial launch through the first ascent. Many launch vehicles, including the Atlas V, SLS and Space Shuttle, have used SRBs to give laun ...

s. The ITL was similar to

Launch Complex 39 Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built as the Apollo program's ...

at the nearby

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

, where Titans would get assembled at the

Vertical Integration Building The Vertical Integration Building was a building at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, located at the far south end of the industrial area supporting SLC-40 and SLC-41. The building was one of the facilities of the Integrate-Transfer ...

(demolished in 2006), have their boosters built and attached at the Solid Motor Assembly Building (now used by SpaceX to process Falcon 9 payloads), and launched from either LC-40 or Launch Complex 41 (LC-41, now SLC-41). LC-40 hosted its inaugural launch in June 1965, a

rocket with a 9,500 kg (21,000 lb)

mass simulator A boilerplate spacecraft, also known as a mass simulator, is a nonfunctional craft or payload that is used to test various configurations and basic size, load, and handling characteristics of rocket launch vehicles. It is far less expensive t ...

to test the

Transtage Transtage, given the United States Air Force designation SSB-10A, was an American upper stage used on Titan III rockets, developed by Martin Marietta and Aerojet. History Transtage was developed in anticipation of a requirement to launch milita ...

upper stage. Almost every Titan IIIC launch from the pad carried a military payload, the vast majority of them being classified reconnaissance satellites. Additionally, the ITL was planned to launch the

Titan IIIM The Titan IIIM was a planned American expendable launch system, intended to launch the Manned Orbiting Laboratory and other payloads. Development was cancelled in 1969. The stretched core stage was used on some versions of the Titan IIIB and the ...

for the Air Force's

Manned Orbiting Laboratory The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was part of the United States Air Force (USAF) human spaceflight program in the 1960s. The project was developed from early USAF concepts of crewed space stations as reconnaissance satellites, and was a succ ...

(MOL) program, using it as a testing ground before the operational launch site at

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg S ...

's SLC-6 would be activated. The only MOL launch made before the program's cancellation occurred at LC-40, with

OPS 0855 OPS 0855, also designated OV4-3, was an American boilerplate Manned Orbiting Laboratory spacecraft launched in 1966. It was flown to demonstrate the launch configuration for future MOL missions. A number of research payloads, designated Manifold ...

lifting off in November 1966 with the first capsule to be reused,

Gemini SC-2 Gemini SC-2 (Spacecraft No. 2) was the second NASA Project Gemini full-up reentry capsule built. This McDonnell Aircraft, McDonnell Gemini capsule was the first space capsule to be reused, flying twice in suborbital flights. SC-2 flew on Gemini 2 ...

previously flown on

Gemini 2 Gemini 2 (Gemini-Titan 2; GT-2) was the second spaceflight of the American human spaceflight program Project Gemini, and was launched and recovered on January 19, 1965. Gemini 2, like Gemini 1, was an uncrewed mission intended as a test flig ...

. Going into the 1970s, LC-40 became the dedicated launch site for the Titan IIIC within the ITL, as LC-41 would undergo modifications to launch the

Titan IIIE The Titan IIIE or Titan 3E, also known as the Titan III-Centaur, was an American expendable launch system. Launched seven times between 1974 and 1977, it enabled several high-profile NASA missions, including the Voyager and Viking planetary pro ...

. Throughout the rest of the decade, the complex would see approximately one to three Titan IIIC launches a year until the rocket's replacement with the

in the early 1980s. Similarly to its predecessor, every Titan 34D launch from the pad was for military purposes, being used to put payloads into

geostationary transfer orbit In space mission design, a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) or geosynchronous transfer orbit is a highly elliptical type of geocentric orbit, usually with a perigee as low as low Earth orbit (LEO) and an apogee as high as geostationary orbit ...

Commercial Titan III and Titan IV (1990–2005)

In the late 1980s, Titan manufacturer

and the Air Force converted the ITL to their new Titan configurations: LC-40 would be used to launch the civilian-focused

, while LC-41 would be for the military-oriented

. Additionally, Titan IV processing would go through the newly built Solid Motor Assembly and Readiness Facility (now used by

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance, LLC (ULA) is an American launch service provider formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The company designs, assembles, sells and launches rockets ...

for assembling

Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launch vehicle family. It was developed by Lockheed Martin and has been operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2006. Primarily used to ...

and

Vulcan Centaur Vulcan Centaur is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed and operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). It is a two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle consisting of the Vulcan first stage and the Centaur second stage. Replacing ULA's Atlas V and Del ...

) before launch. This setup did not last, as the Commercial Titan III's price compared to cheaper systems like

Delta II Delta II was an expendable launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas, and sometimes known as the Thorad Delta 1. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family, derived directly from the Delta 3000, and entered service in ...

and

Ariane 4 The Ariane 4 was a European expendable rocket, expendable launch vehicle in the Ariane (rocket family), Ariane family, developed by the (CNES), the Government of France, French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). The manufacturi ...

limited its customer base into early retirement. That being said, a handful of notable payloads were launched from LC-40 in this era, like

Intelsat 603 Intelsat 603 or IS-603, previously named Intelsat VI F-3, is a communications satellite operated by Intelsat. Launched in 1990, it was the second of five Intelsat VI satellites to be launched. The Intelsat VI series was constructed by Hughes Air ...

in March 1990 (of which a stage malfunction caused it to be visited by

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

'' Endeavour'' during

STS-49 STS-49 was NASA's maiden flight of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'', which launched on May 7, 1992. The primary goal of its nine-day mission was to retrieve an Intelsat VI satellite, Intelsat 603, which failed to leave Low Earth orbit two yea ...

) and the failed

Mars Observer The ''Mars Observer'' spacecraft, also known as the ''Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter'', was a Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe launched by NASA on September 25, 1992, to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, climate and magnetic fie ...

in September 1992. Titan4B on Launch Complex 40

Following the Commercial Titan III's retirement, LC-40 was converted to complement LC-41 in the launches of the Titan IV. As was typical for the Titan family, almost all launches in the decade carried military payloads; the only exception to this was

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and

ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...

Cassini–Huygens ''Cassini–Huygens'' ( ), commonly called ''Cassini'', was a space research, space-research mission by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a space probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, i ...

mission to

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

in October 1997. Going into the new millennium, the cost of Titan launches led to

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

(who assumed the control of Titan following Martin Marietta's merger with Lockheed) winding down and announcing the retirement of the Titan family in favor of their cheaper

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

launch vehicles. As such, the last Titan IV launches at the ITL were made from LC-40, with LC-41 and the SMARF converted to process and launch the

. Over its lifetime, LC-40 supported a total of 55 Titan launches, including 26 Titan IIICs, eight Titan 34Ds, four Commercial Titan IIIs, and 17 Titan IVs. The final Titan launch from LC-40 was the Lacrosse-5 reconnaissance satellite carried on a Titan IV-B on April 30, 2005. Following the conclusion of Titan operations, the launch complex underwent significant transformation. The tower was dismantled in early 2008, followed by the controlled demolition of the Mobile Service Structure later that year.

SpaceX and Falcon 9 (2007–present)

SpaceX leased LC-40 from the U.S. Air Force in April 2007 to launch its Falcon 9 rocket, getting renamed to SLC-40 much like what happened to SLC-41 and SLC-37. Ground facility construction began the following year, including a rocket and payload preparation hangar and new fuel tanks. A spherical liquid oxygen tank previously used at LC-34 was purchased from NASA. The first Falcon 9 arrived in late 2008, with the inaugural launch in June 2010 carrying a dummy payload. A

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

spacecraft demonstration flight followed in December. Starting in 2012, SLC-40 became the primary launch site for the Dragon cargo vehicle providing provide two-way

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

to and

from From may refer to: People *Isak From (born 1967), Swedish politician *Martin Severin From (1825–1895), Danish chess master * Sigfred From (1925–1998), Danish chess master Media * ''From'' (TV series), a sci-fi-horror series that debuted ...

the International Space Station, a role previously filled by the

until its retirement in 2011. To accommodate the heavier Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, the launch pad was modified in 2013. Launch frequency gradually increased from 2014, with a mix of Dragon and satellite missions. A catastrophic explosion occurred at SLC-40 in September 2016 during a static fire test, destroying a Falcon 9 rocket and its payload, the

AMOS-6 AMOS-6 was an Israeli communications satellite, one of the Spacecom AMOS series, that was built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), a defense and aerospace company. AMOS-6 was intended to be launched on flight 29 of a SpaceX Falcon 9 to ...

satellite. The incident caused significant damage to the launch pad. After a thorough investigation and cleanup, repairs and upgrades began in early 2017. SLC-40 returned to service in December 2017 with the successful launch of CRS-13. SpaceX had leased

Launch Complex 39A Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is the first of Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39B, was built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V lau ...

(LC-39A) at the nearby

from NASA in April 2014, which allowed launches to continue to from Florida during the reconstruction of SLC-40. In August 2018, LC-39A's crew access tower received an access arm, allowing crew to be loaded onto Crew Dragon 2 capsules along with late payload changes on Cargo Dragon 2 capsules. Because SLC-40 lacked an access tower, Dragon missions were paused after the original Dragon 1 capsule was retired in 2020. SLC-40 access arm

In the 2020s, SLC-40 would become SpaceX's "workhorse" launch pad, hosting less complex satellite launch missions as frequently as every week, completing 50 launches of this launch pad alone in 2023. Meanwhile, LC-39A was used less, being reserved for Dragon crew and cargo flights, Falcon Heavy missions, and other complex missions. To add additional operational flexibility and reduce reliance on LC-39A, in early 2023, SpaceX began constructing an access tower at SLC-40. In February 2024, SpaceX tested its new emergency escape system for future crewed missions, which uses an

evacuation slide An evacuation slide is an inflatable slide used to evacuate an aircraft quickly. An escape slide is required on all commercial (passenger carrying) aircraft where the door sill height is such that, in the event of an evacuation, passengers would ...

instead of the slidewire baskets used at

LC-39A Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is the first of Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39B, was built in t ...

The tower was first used ahead of in early 2024 to accommodate late loading of supplies into cargo spacecraft. SLC-40 was used to launch its first crewed mission in September 2024,

SpaceX Crew-9 SpaceX Crew-9 was the ninth operational NASA Commercial Crew Program flight and the 15th crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. Originally scheduled to carry a crew of four to the International Space Station (ISS) in mid-August 2024 ...

. The mission had been slated to use LC-39A, but was shifted to SLC-40 when the launch was delayed due to issues with the

Boeing Starliner The Boeing Starliner (or CST-100) is a spacecraft designed to transport crew to and from the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. Developed by Boeing under NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP), it consists o ...

''Calypso'' spacecraft that was docked to the ISS. In addition, the delay would have bled into LC-39A's conversion process into

Falcon Heavy Falcon Heavy is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket consists of a center core ...

launches, as one was being used to launch NASA's

Europa Clipper Europa Clipper (previously known as Europa Multiple Flyby Mission) is a space probe developed by NASA to study Europa (moon), Europa, a Galilean moon of Jupiter. It was launched on October 14, 2024. The spacecraft used a gravity assist from Mar ...

in October.

Launch history

Statistics

List of launches

As of June 13, 2025

Titan IIIC launches

All flights operated by the

Titan 34D and Commercial Titan III launches

All 34D flights operated by the

. All Commercial flights operated by

Titan IV launches

All flights operated by the

Falcon 9 v1.0 and v1.1 launches

All flights operated by

Falcon 9 FT and B4 launches

All flights operated by

Falcon 9 Block 5 launches

All flights operated by

Upcoming launches

References

{{SpaceX Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch complexes of the United States Space Force SpaceX facilities 1965 establishments in Florida