"SpaceX Certifies Cape Canaveral Pad 40 for Astronaut Missions with New Emergency Escape System Test"

SpaceX is nearing certification of its Space Launch Complex 40 for astronaut and cargo missions with the new Dragon spacecraft, conducting a successful test of its emergency egress system featuring a deployable slide. The company aims to test the system on a cargo flight before deploying it for astronaut missions, with the CRS-30 mission targeted for mid-March. The addition of a human-rated pad at Complex 40 would alleviate launch constraints and provide redundancy for SpaceX and NASA, with plans to have it online for crew capability by Crew-9 later this year.