BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A launch pad that once sent the first American into orbit is being revived for a new era of commercial spaceflight.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 14, the site of John Glenn’s historic Friendship 7 mission in February 1962, was deactivated in the late 1960s. Now, more than five decades later, aerospace startup Stoke Space has rebuilt the complex to support launches of its fully reusable Nova rocket.
Channel 9 got a first look at the newly reconstructed Space Launch Complex 14.
Jonathan Lund, Stoke Space’s Vice President of Launch and Recovery, says the pad is substantially complete, with teams now outfitting the umbilical support structure. It’s a critical interface that connects the rocket to the launch pad systems.
Stoke Space, founded in 2019, is developing its reusable medium-lift Nova vehicle in Washington state. The rocket’s first and second stages, along with its payload fairing, will be transported from the company’s factory near Seattle to Florida. Once at SLC-14, the components will undergo final assembly and system checkouts inside the site’s Horizontal Integration Facility before rolling out to the pad and being raised vertical for launch.
Lund calls the Cape “The Premier Gateway to Space,” citing its rich history and favorable orbital inclinations as key advantages for launch companies. Stoke Space is targeting its first Nova launch later this year and says it already has a backlog of customers ready to fly.
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