SpaceX will soon be able to launch its Starship rockets from Florida. The Elon Musk-led company announced Tuesday that it has received approval to develop Space Launch Complex-37 (SLC-37) for Starship missions at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) and the construction is underway. It will enable SpaceX to expand its operations beyond Texas and California spaceports, ultimately boosting NASA’s efforts to colonise the Moon.
Florida has a total of seven active launch pads – 3 at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and 4 at Cape Canaveral. Out of these seven, the KSC’s Launch Complex-39A and Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40 are being repurposed for Starship. With the completion of SLC-37, SpaceX will have three active sites to launch the mega rocket.
We’ve received approval to develop Space Launch Complex-37 for Starship operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Construction has started.
With three launch pads in Florida, Starship will be ready to support America’s national security and Artemis goals as the world’s… pic.twitter.com/USgwNzwK8L— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 1, 2025
“With three launch pads in Florida, Starship will be ready to support America’s national security and Artemis goals as the world’s premiere spaceport continues to evolve to enable airport-like operations,” SpaceX said in a post on X. “We’d like to thank the Department of the Air Force, 45th Space Force, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife for their effort on the environmental review.” Environmental reviews are important because rocket launches pose serious risk to residential areas and wildlife around launch pads. Governments make sure those impacts are understood and managed before construction begins.
Spaceports, especially in Florida, are surrounded by protected wetlands and endangered species. Several environmental groups have flagged the dangers of rocket launches to species of sea turtle and birds. SpaceX has faced scrutiny multiple times over environmental impact caused by Starship launches from Texas, which is home to threatened species of Piping Plover birds and Ridley sea turtles.
SpaceX operations in the US
SpaceX operates from multiple launch pads in California, Florida and Texas. It has leased KSC’s Launch Complex-39A from NASA and uses it for orbital launches of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. The company has established its own city – Starbase – in Texas which is its private manufacturing, test and launch site for Starship rockets.
SpaceX also uses the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for its Starlink and other missions, along with the Launch Complex-36 at Cape Canaveral. Now with the upcoming SLC-37, SpaceX will aim at a higher launch cadence with Starship to support NASA’s lunar goals. SpaceX is working to achieve full reusability with Starship that has the ultimate objective of launching humans to Mars, after landing them on the Moon.
Apart from SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin also has agreements to launch missions from Cape Canaveral. It recently launched NASA’s ESCAPADE mission from Cape Canaveral’s LC-36. Blue Origin has another private launch pad near Van Horn, Texas which is used for crewed and uncrewed New Shepard missions.
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