Kennedy Space Center under pressure as private rockets surge
A NASA Inspector General report finds Kennedy Space Center’s launch infrastructure aging and already strained by rising private-rocket demand from SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s New Glenn. SpaceX aims to launch Starship from LC-39A roughly every eight days (potentially about 120 Starship flights annually), with Blue Origin targeting similar annual totals by 2035. The report highlights limited launch pads, aging gas and power systems, and an unfunded $25 million plan to expand gaseous nitrogen capacity, plus the prospect of future pad additions blocked by wetlands. NASA budgets for maintenance have fallen since 2021, raising concerns that aging facilities could bottleneck a growing U.S. spaceflight program and complicate timelines in the space race with China.
