Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 39 (SLS)

LC-39

Mission Profile

Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B modified for the Space Launch System (SLS) is the primary pad for NASA's Artemis lunar exploration program, rebuilt from its Space Shuttle-era configuration with a new 100-meter-tall mobile launcher and launch umbilical tower specially designed for the larger SLS Block 1 rocket. First used for the Artemis I uncrewed test flight on 16 November 2022, LC-39B features a flame trench water deluge system that releases 1.3 million liters of water in seconds during ignition to suppress acoustic energy, and a launch access road equipped with a vehicle assembly building connection for the 4.2-km crawler-transporter journey from the VAB. The pad's complex umbilical system provides electrical power, communications, propellants, and crew access to the Orion spacecraft until the final seconds before launch.