section_path: Facilities/Launch facilities
section_name: Launch facilities
paragraph_text: Launch facilities
  
  SpaceX operates four orbital launch sites, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for Falcon rockets, and Starbase near Brownsville, Texas for Starship. SpaceX has indicated that they see a niche for each of the four orbital facilities and that they have sufficient launch business to fill each pad. The Vandenberg launch site enables highly inclined orbits (66–145°), while Cape Canaveral and Kennedy enable orbits of medium inclination (28.5–55°). Larger inclinations, including SSO, are possible from Florida by overflying Cuba.
  
  Before it was retired, all Falcon 1 launches took place at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Omelek Island of the Marshall Islands.
  
  In April 2007, the Pentagon approved the use of Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) by SpaceX. The site has been used since 2010 for Falcon 9 launches, mainly to low Earth and geostationary orbits. The former Launch Complex 13 at Cape Canaveral, now renamed Landing Zones 1 and 2, has since 2015 been used for Falcon 9 first-stage booster landings.
  
  Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4E) was leased from the military in 2011 and is used for payloads to polar orbits. The Vandenberg site can launch both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles, but cannot launch to low inclination orbits. The neighboring SLC-4W was converted to Landing Zone 4 in 2015 for booster landings.
  
  On April 14, 2014, SpaceX signed a 20-year lease for Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A. The pad was subsequently modified to support Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. As of 2024 it is the only pad that supports Falcon Heavy launches. SpaceX launched its first crewed mission to the ISS from Launch Pad 39A on May 30, 2020. Pad 39A has been prepared since 2019 to eventually accommodate Starship launches. With delays in launch FAA permits for Boca Chica, Texas, the 39A Starship preparation was accelerated in 2022.