Eastern Range looks for ways to support additional launches - SpaceNews

WASHINGTON — As launch activity grows on the Eastern Range in Florida, companies and government agencies are looking at ways to add capacity, largely through incremental improvements.

Purdy Jr., commander of the 45th Space Wing and director of the Eastern Range, said the range supported 32 launches in the last 12 months.

Those expected launch rates he referred to came from a study by The Aerospace Corporation that projected a surge in commercial launch activity from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and neighboring Kennedy Space Center in the next few years.

“We were able to go from locking down the range for 72 to 96 hours to being able to support multiple launches in a single day,” said Wayne Monteith, associate administrator for commercial space transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration and a former commander of the 45th Space Wing.

The company has, on two occasions, attempted two Falcon 9 launches from Space Launch Complex 40 and Launch Complex 39A on the same day, but weather or technical issues with the rocket prevented both launches from taking place.

Both the Eastern Range and launch companies are studying weather requirements, looking for minor changes that decrease the probability that conditions such as lightning scrub a launch.

Koenigsmann said many SpaceX launches have instantaneous launch windows, with no margin for error in the event of bad weather.

The FAA’s commercial space transportation office has taken steps to support higher launch rates through more streamlined regulations, released last fall and scheduled to formally go into effect later this month.

Orbital launches on the Eastern Range are today performed primarily by two companies, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.

“I just don’t see anybody else doing that level of launches right now” compared to SpaceX, he said, expressing optimism that SpaceX and others can find solutions to any future scheduling issues