Space Exploration Technologies Corp., doing business as SpaceX, is an American spaceflight, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence company headquartered at the Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. The company operates three divisions: "Space", which conducts more orbital launches annually than any other launch provider, including national programs; "Connectivity", which operates
SpaceX routinely returns the first stage of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets after orbital launches. The rocket lands at a predetermined landing site using only its propulsion systems. When propellant margins do not permit a return to a launch site (RTLS), rockets return to a floating landing platform in the ocean, called autonomous spaceport drone ships (ASDS).
SpaceX also had plans to introduce floating launch platforms, which would be modified oil rigs to provide a sea launch option for their Starship launch vehicle. As of February 2023, SpaceX had sold the oil rigs, but had not ruled out sea-based platforms for future use.
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, renamed Landing Zones 1 and 2, was used from 2015 until its retirement in 2026 for Falcon 9 first-stage booster landings. The landing zones were retired in 2026 after the Space Force leased Launch Complex 13 to a new customer. SpaceX has constructed new return-to-launch-site landing facilities at Launch Complex 39A and Space Launch Complex 40.
# Is a SpaceX launch completely automated?
Tags: spacex, launch, falcon-9, falcon-heavy, booster-flyback
- Score: 44
- Views: 11158
- Answers: 3
- Answered: yes
- Asked by: v15 (1199 rep)
- Asked: 2018-02-14
- Site: space
## Question
Once the engines are ignited and liftoff occurs, are any operators/controllers on the ground making any manual changes to the flight? Or are they simply monitoring the entire event until the boosters return to earth?
## Answers
### Answer by Saiboogu (score: 49 [ACCEPTED])
The rocket is autonomous, it flies itself.
The navigational math, engine, and flight dynamics of a Earth-based orbital class rocket in operation are far too complex for manual operation, especially remote manual operation. Even simpler rockets (like Apollo LEM) that could be flown manually have still attempted to offer automatic operation in the interests of safety and reliability.
Ground control retains the ability to send a destruct command, and they are able to directly control events after the dynamic period ends and the upper stage is in orbit - for instance, delaying payload deployment until receiving the all-clear from the launch team and payload team.
### Answer by
Everything we examined (2)
This check searched the claim as stated. It did not run a separate search for evidence against it.