SpaceX Breaks Ground at Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 40
New Launch Facilities to Loft Falcon 9 Rockets Starting in 2009

Cape Canaveral FL – November 01, 2007 – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX ) held official ground breaking ceremonies today at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, opening a new era in commercial space operations. Starting in 2009, SLC-40 will be the primary launch site for SpaceX’s new Falcon 9  launch vehicle.

Located on the Florida coast, just south of NASA’s launch site for all Apollo moon missions and Space Shuttle flights, SLC-40 is a world class heavy lift launch facility, capable of supporting both the Falcon 9 and future Falcon 9 Heavy  missions. In operation since 1965, SLC-40 has hosted a long list of large rocket missions, including the Titan IIIC, and two interplanetary launches; the Mars Observer satellite, and the Cassini spacecraft now exploring the rings and moons of the planet Saturn.

 “Initiating activities at the Cape in Florida is a major milestone in our mission to decrease the cost of reliable access to space,” said Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, at the ceremony.    “This is truly the beginning of a new era in commercial space in Florida and we are thrilled to help bring SpaceX to Florida” commented Space Florida CEO Steve Kohler, who also participated in the ceremony.

The event included representatives from NASA, the U.S. Air Force, Space Florida, the State of Florida and SpaceX, and was followed by an official “ground breaking”.

In the coming months, SpaceX will perform extensive upgrades and removal of outdated infrastructure to transform the site into a state of the art facility for commercial satellite launches, supply missions to the International Space Station (ISS), and eventually lofting crew carrying missions to the ISS and future orbiting destinations.