SpaceX is in the final stages of certifying a second launch pad for astronaut launches, which should ease congestion at the launch site and help the company expand the number of people it can send into space.
SpaceX has carried out 13 manned missions, all of which launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It is currently the only launch pad certified for manned spaceflight. But the company has long planned to upgrade the second pad – the SLC-40 nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station – Expands its manned launch capabilities.
The company is almost here. Last fall, SpaceX crews installed a crew access arm on the launch tower, critical infrastructure that allows astronauts to enter the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The company also installed a new emergency exit system on the helipad to allow crew members to quickly escape in the event of an abnormal situation.
The system, essentially a long orange slide that stretches from the crew tower to the ground, will help SpaceX “scale to larger towers and spaceships (think 100 people on Starship).” Launch Vice President Kiko Dontchev said in a social media post.
Next, SpaceX will launch the CRS-30 cargo replenishment mission. The mission is part of a series of regular cargo missions the company performs for NASA and is scheduled to lift off at 4:55 pm ET tomorrow. As the mission’s name suggests, this is the company’s 30th mission since 2012 to deliver essential materials to astronauts on the International Space Station.
During a media conference call in February, Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president of construction and flight reliability, said cargo flights are an incremental step toward astronaut launches. Both cargo and crew missions use variants of the company’s Dragon spacecraft.
“We would like to do cargo flights first if we can. We think CRS-30 might be the right time to do that,” he said. “The work on the tarmac is almost complete. [We’ve] There’s still some things to do next week, but we’ll be ready for CRS-30. “
