New launch tower segments moving to SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral
New launch tower segments moving to SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral
Reported by Chris Bergin - NSF @NASASpaceflight on Xitter, video at Sep 6, 2023 · 10:32 PM UTC
Here comes the first section of the new Crew Tower for SLC-40! Initially will be used for Cargo Dragon launches from SLC-40, but eventually also for crew. It adds redundancy to 39A.
nsf.live/spacecoast
then this video
Tower on the loose at KSC!
then this video
Passing the grown-up Towers.
then this video
SLC-40 Tower section passing 39A's historic FSS and the new Starship Tower.
Another step closer to launching Starship from HLC-39A.
I wonder if they're making any paperwork progress on the new launch complex at the north end of the Cape.
Is the new SLC-40 tower intended to be another Starship-capable Mechazilla in the long-term, or is it more like the existing crew Dragon tower at 39A?
I got the impression from reading the few posts about it that it's going to start as a backup for the existing crew Dragon tower. Whether it could ever become Son of Mechazilla in the long run I don't know, and I doubt it. I suspect, though on no evidence other than prior practice and the 5-step algorithm, that SpaceX would rather debug the first model some before building a second.