Space Florida said July 9 that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved a Launch Site Operator’s License that permits the organization to support commercial launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46). The license went into effect July 1.
Space Florida said SLC-46 can be made ready to support launches within 12 months of a formal customer commitment. The pad was last used in 1999 when Taiwan’s RocSat-1 was launched on a Lockheed Martin Athena 1 rocket.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver and Alliant Techsystems Aerospace of Magna, Utah, announced earlier this year their intent to bring the Athena rocket back to the market and listed Florida among potential launch sites.
