An old launch pad at Cape Canaveral is being converted for "quick reaction" commercial launches, says Spaceport Florida Authority (SFA) in Hall 2.
SFA already operates a converted launch pad, No 46 at Canaveral, which made its debut in January with the launch of the Lunar Prospector aboard an Athena 2 booster.
Pad 20, which was used to launch Titan II boosters, is now being converted with four separate launch pads for orbital and sub-orbital launches. It will have its own launch vehicle processing facility and control blockhouse.
Urgently needed
Most quick reaction launches are likely to be for urgently needed "replacements for low Earth orbit communications satellite constellations and for military and science satellites", says Edward Ellegood, SFA's executive director.
Several launch service companies will be able to launch from Pad 20. These include Minuteman missiles converted by Orbital Sciences for sub-orbital and orbital missons and the proposed LK-1 booster derived from Israel's Shavit. SFA will inaugurate the new site with the sub-orbital launch of LightStar payloads.
Source: Flight Daily News
