When you think of a shuttle or rocket launching into space, odds are the Kennedy Space Center comes to mind. After all, some of the most momentous expeditions, including the Apollo missions, took off from the center’s very own Launch Complex (LC) 39A. In 2014, the Kennedy Space Center signed a deal with SpaceX, making the company a tenant and giving it permission to use the launch pad to shoot its rockets into orbit. However, that partnership has seemingly gone on hiatus as SpaceX prepares for the next phase of its space launch operations.
During a SpaceX Crew-12 pre-launch press meeting in February 2026, senior mission manager Lee Echerd stated that the company plans to reserve LC 39A for “Falcon Heavy launches and hopefully our first Starship launches later this year.” For clarification, SpaceX has launched Starship rockets before, but those were all test flights from SpaceX’s own facility in Texas — some of which ended in explosive failure that caused major safety issues for airlines. But engineers at SpaceX have reportedly solved the re-entry issues, which are among the biggest differences between Starship V2 and Starship V1.
Echerd’s comments follow an earlier statement from SpaceX’s VP of Launch, Kiko Dontchev. In December 2025, Dontchev announced on X plans to shift most Falcon 9 launches to Space Launch Complex (SLC) 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station instead of using 39A. However, the Federal Aviation Administration website says SpaceX plans to install new infrastructure at LC 39A to support Starship-Super Heavy launches. But the company must “obtain a new or modification of an existing vehicle operator license” before it can proceed.
SpaceX is and has been using another launch pad for other missions
While Kiko Dontchev’s statement focused on shifting Falcon 9 launches to SLC 40, the organization is using that platform for other purposes. During his press briefing, Lee Echerd stated that most upcoming Falcon 9 and all future Dragon missions would shoot into space from SLC 40. This decision didn’t just come out of left field, though.
SpaceX began modifying SLC 40 to support crewed Dragon missions in 2023, and the work was completed in 2024. In fact, most upcoming launches in the near term — which utilize the Falcon 9 – will shoot up into space from SLC 40. And while SpaceX used both LC 39A and SLC 40 for its launches throughout the years, December 17, 2025 marked the final SpaceX mission to take off from LC 39A for the time being. The next SpaceX mission planned to use LC 39A is a tentative July 2026 Falcon Heavy launch. This rocket will carry the Astrobotic Griffin lander and the FLIP lunar rover, a smaller and more advanced version of the revolutionary FLEX Rover. After that, we might not see another SpaceX launch on LC 39A for a while.
