Ground Systems
Launch Infrastructure
VABs, flame trenches, TELs, and the ground systems that prepare, fuel, and launch rockets.
20 facilities5 types20 active
20 facilities
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LAUNCH PAD
Baikonur, Kazakhstan
ACTIVE
Roscosmos
Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 1 (Gagarin’s Start)
Built 1955N/A (surface pad)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Baikonur, Kazakhstan
ACTIVE (REDUCED CADENCE)
Roscosmos / Khrunichev
Baikonur Site 200
Built 1965N/Am tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Baikonur, Kazakhstan
ACTIVE
Roscosmos
Baikonur Site 31
Built 1961N/Am tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Kourou, French Guiana
ACTIVE (TRANSITIONING TO ARIANE 6)
Arianespace / ESA / CNES
Guiana Space Centre ELA-3
Built 198890 (mobile gantry)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Jiuquan, Gansu Province, China
ACTIVE
CNSA / PLA Strategic Support Force
Jiuquan LC-43
Built 199980 (service tower)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH CONTROL
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
ACTIVE
NASA
Kennedy Space Center Launch Control
Built 196523m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, USA
ACTIVE
Blue Origin
Launch Complex 36 (Blue Origin)
Built 1962 (rebuilt 2016-present)N/A (surface pad)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
ACTIVE
SpaceX (leased from NASA)
Launch Complex 39A
Built 1967N/A (surface pad)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
ACTIVE
NASA
Launch Complex 39B
Built 1967N/A (surface pad)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Wallops Island, Virginia, USA
ACTIVE
Rocket Lab
LC-2 (Wallops)
Built 2019N/Am tall
🏗️
MISSION CONTROL
Houston, Texas, USA
ACTIVE
NASA Johnson Space Center
Mission Control Center Houston (MCC-H)
Built 196518m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Plesetsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia
ACTIVE
Russian Aerospace Forces
Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43
Built 1966N/Am tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
ACTIVE
Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab LC-1
Built 2016N/Am tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India
ACTIVE
ISRO
Satish Dhawan SDSC SHAR FLP
Built 199376 (mobile service tower)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, USA
ACTIVE
SpaceX
SpaceX SLC-40
Built 1965 (rebuilt 2017)N/A (surface pad)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH COMPLEX
Boca Chica, Texas, USA
ACTIVE
SpaceX
SpaceX Starbase (Boca Chica)
Built 2019146 (orbital launch tower)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima, Japan
ACTIVE
JAXA
Tanegashima LA-Y2
Built 198567 (mobile launcher platform)m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA
ACTIVE
SpaceX
Vandenberg SLC-4E
Built 1964 (converted 2011)N/A (surface pad)m tall
🏗️
ASSEMBLY BUILDING
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
ACTIVE
NASA
Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)
Built 1966160m tall
🏗️
LAUNCH PAD
Wenchang, Hainan Province, China
ACTIVE
CNSA
Wenchang LC-201
Built 201497 (umbilical tower)m tall
The Ground Game
Explore the massive facilities that prepare, fuel, and launch rockets. From the Vehicle Assembly Building to water deluge systems, understand the engineering behind launch infrastructure — the towers, trenches, and transporters without which nothing reaches the pad.