Kennedy Space Center

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Clockwise from the top: Vehicle Assembly Building, Shuttle Landing Facility, Launch Control Center, Launch Complex 39, KSC Headquarters Building, and the Visitor Complex
KSC shown in white; CCSFS in green
Abbreviation	KSC
Named after	John F. Kennedy
Formation	July 1, 1962; 61 years ago (1962-07-01)
Type	NASA facility
Location	Merritt Island, Florida
Coordinates	28°31′27″N 80°39′03″W / 28.52417°N 80.65083°W / 28.52417; -80.65083
Owner	NASA
Director	Janet E. Petro[1]
Budget	US$2.074 billion[2]: 52  (2023)
Staff	13,253[2]: 50  (2023)
Website	www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html
Formerly called	Launch Operations Center
[3]

Part of a series on the
United States space program
NASA U.S. Space Force
Human spaceflight programs Mercury Gemini Apollo Skylab Space Shuttle Shuttle–Mir International Space Station Commercial Crew Constellation Artemis Lunar Gateway
Robotic spaceflight programs CRS Explorers GLS Large Strategic Lunar Orbiter Lunar Precursor Mariner Mars Exploration New Millennium Pioneer Planetary Missions Discovery New Frontiers Solar System Exploration Planetary Observer Ranger Surveyor Vanguard Viking Voyager X-37
NASA Astronaut Corps Mercury Gemini Apollo Space Shuttle
Spaceports Eastern Range Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Kennedy Space Center Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska Western Range Vandenberg Space Force Base
Space launch vehicles Alpha Antares Atlas V Delta IV Heavy Electron Falcon 9 Full Thrust Falcon Heavy LauncherOne Minotaur I III IV V C New Glenn New Shepard Pegasus Space Launch System Starship Vulcan Centaur
National security space United States Space Force National Reconnaissance Office United States Space Command
Civil space Department of Energy national laboratories Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Office of Space Commerce Space Weather Prediction Center Department of State Office of Space Affairs Office of Science and Technology Policy
Commercial space industry Astra Ball Aerospace Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Boeing Firefly Aerospace Lockheed Martin Raytheon Rocket Lab Northrop Grumman Sierra Nevada Corporation SpaceX SSL United Launch Alliance Virgin Galactic Virgin Orbit
v t e

The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC.^[4] Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources and operate facilities on each other's property.

Though the first Apollo flights and all Project Mercury and Project Gemini flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate.^[5][6] Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch control center in Florida (Mercury Control Center, later the Launch Control Center) began handing off control of the vehicle to the Mission Control Center in Houston, shortly after liftoff; in prior missions it held control throughout the entire mission.^[7][8]

Additionally, the center manages launch of robotic and commercial crew missions and researches food production and in-situ resource utilization for off-Earth exploration.^[9] Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user spaceport through industry partnerships,^[10] even adding a new launch pad (LC-39C) in 2015.

There are about 700 facilities and buildings grouped throughout the center's 144,000 acres (580 km²).^[11] Among the unique facilities at KSC are the 525-foot (160 m) tall Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking NASA's largest rockets, the Launch Control Center, which conducts space launches at KSC, the Operations and Checkout Building, which houses the astronauts dormitories and suit-up area, a Space Station factory, and a 3-mile (4.8 km) long Shuttle Landing Facility. There is also a Visitor Complex on site that is open to the public.