The military allowed SpaceX to build a platform for vertical landings at Cape Canaveral

SpaceX Ilona Mask received a five-year rental launch pad No. 13 (Launch Complex 13, LC-13), which is located on the territory of the US Air Force base at Cape Canaveral. The order was signed by the Commander of the 45th Space Squadron, Brigadier General Nina Armagno. According to the contract, SpaceX receives the right to equip the site for the landing of Falcon-type spacecraft, whose vertical landing is currently being tested on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.

Launch pad number 13 is now operated by the US Air Force. Between 1956 and 1978, it was used for test launches of Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles, but by 2000 it was no longer used. Also number 13 is known for launching the Lunar Orbiter 1 satellite, which for the first time sent images of the Earth from the lunar orbit and was used by NASA to map the moon before the Apollo and Surveyor missions. Despite the fact that the site is located in the Register of Historic Places of the USA, there was no proper control over it since its preservation and due to irreversible damage to metal structures, it was destroyed by a controlled explosion in 2005.


Atlas rocket launch with satellite "Mariner-4" from launch pad No. 13

Now number 13 is (pdf) a platform with a diameter of 228 meters from compressed soil and gravel, capable of withstanding the vertical landing of a spacecraft. Next to it are 4 smaller auxiliary platforms (approximately 45 meters in diameter) for emergency cases. SpaceX is committed to landscaping, to build a new road and build the necessary equipment for launch.
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Last July, SpaCeX also received permission from the US authorities to build a spaceport in Texas. Ilon Mask plans to use it as the main platform for "tourist flights" and missions paid for by governments of different countries.