Air Force clears SpaceX to build Starship launch pad at Cape Canaveral

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — The U.S. Department of the Air Force gave SpaceX approval to build a launch and landing pad for its Starship at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37.

After months of input from the community, the decision was posted on the Air Force’s website, and it is the official green light SpaceX needed to bring its Starship to Brevard County.

The rocket booster is called Super Heavy and the spacecraft is called Starship. When they are joined together, they are collectively called Starship.

SpaceX confirmed on X that construction for the launch pad is already underway for Starship, which will return humans to the moon in NASA’s Artemis missions.

Once that work is complete, the plan is for SpaceX to have three launch pads on the Space Coast.

The company said the goal is to conduct both national security and future missions under the Artemis banner.

There was some concern about Starship coming to Florida, with public meetings being held that included discussions on environmental impacts.

The Department of the Air Force says it plans on implementing mitigation measures to account for environmental impacts associated with these new plans.

In this case, mitigation requires habitat restoration.

This decision still requires an additional analysis of the impact that Starship could have on aviation in Florida.

Pending that analysis, Starship could launch up to 76 missions annually and conduct up to 152 booster landings.

Space Launch Complex 37’s history

The Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station has a long history, with the original plan being to support the Apollo program.

Originally named Launch Complex 37, it was built during the Apollo era where Launch Pad 37A was never used, but it was Launch Pad 37B that saw all the action: From Saturn 1 and Saturn 1B launches to Delta IV and Delta IV Heavy takeoffs from 2002 to 2024.

For more than 20 years, Space Launch Complex 37 was also home to Boeing’s Delta rockets until about six months ago.

In June 2025, the blockhouse where the Delta rockets were stored at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station came tumbling down.

At the time, Emre Kelly, media operations chief for Space Launch Delta 45, explained that once United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) lease of Space Launch Complex 37 expired, the infrastructure at the launch site was turned over to the U.S. Air Force.

Kelly said the demolition of Space Launch Complex 37 was authorized by the U.S. Air Force “as being in the best interest of the government.”