Florida’s Space Coast could go at least six weeks without a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch as the company prepares for Starship’s anticipated debut in the state.
SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev told an audience Oct. 21 at the Cocoa Village Playhouse that there was a six-week gap before the next Falcon 9 launch. The company’s most recent Florida mission lifted off Oct. 20 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying 32 payloads on the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission.
The pause comes as SpaceX readies infrastructure for Starship at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. Dontchev said the launch infrastructure there was effectively complete, while doors were expected to be installed soon at Gigabay, a 380-foot facility near Roberts Road designed to stack and prepare Super Heavy boosters.
Starship stands more than 400 feet tall when fully stacked and has launched 14 times from SpaceX’s Starbase site in South Texas. SpaceX plans to expand Starship operations to both Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The company plans to build Starship vehicles in Texas and transport them by barge around the Florida peninsula to Port Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center Turn Basin.
Other launch providers had not filled the schedule as of Oct. 27. Blue Origin was continuing work at its Cape Canaveral launch complex for New Glenn, though the company has said it remains committed to launching the rocket before the end of 2026. United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket remained grounded following an anomaly on its February flight. The Federal Aviation Administration’s commercial-launch planning advisory also showed no Florida launches with firm target dates at that time.
