NASA wants to lease the shuttle launcher

Almost 2 years after the shuttle program ended, the US Space Agency (NASA) announced the lease of a space shuttle in Florida.

In a statement on the official website, NASA said it was looking for one or more private companies to take over the 39A launch and maintenance. This is one of two launchers built at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the 1960s to support the Apollo Moon discovery program.

Space shuttle Atlantis on launch pad 39A.

Both launchers were later upgraded to launch space shuttles beginning in 1981 until 2011, when NASA's shuttle program ended.

NASA plans to upgrade the 39B launcher to use Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts to locations farther away from the International Space Station (ISS). on Earth orbit.

However, launch pad 39A is one of the facilities and equipment for the shuttle program that NASA does not use and wants to demolish or lease.'We are looking for trading partners , ' said Kennedy Space Center director Robert Cabana.

Robert Cabana said more than 150 shuttle facilities and equipment at NASA's Florida space airport were demolished or transferred to trading partners. Currently, the area of ​​this aerospace is only 93,000m ² .

Expression partners who want to hire 39A launchers include Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). The company is now renting a launch pad at Cape Canaveral air base to launch Falcon 9 missiles and is looking to hire a second launch pad in California.