CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Things are about to get even busier for SpaceX.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
Early Friday, company founder Elon Musk tweeted that construction for the company’s Starship orbital launch pad is underway at cape Canaveral.
Construction of Starship orbital launch pad at the Cape has begun
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 3, 2021
Musk called Launch Complex 39-A “hallowed ground” and said no place was more deserving of a starship launchpad. He also said it would be similar to the company’s Starbase site in Texas, but with improved tower and ground systems.
READ: ULA rolls out Atlas V rocket ahead of launch set for this weekend
Starship is the vehicle SpaceX is building to eventually carry people and cargo to the moon and Mars. For a time, the company worked on a prototype in both Central Florida and Boca Chica, Texas, before pivoting development to Texas.
PHOTOS: ULA rolls out Atlas V rocket ahead of launch set for this weekend
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/N6RFGBSYPJA2VBBAGKMRUZO7RE.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7HH7IMHACVGI7CBX3NFMUZBXFU.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/TEX3RTQC4VEFDB7KYGKVIKNTHE.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/NGVEOWJMQBCEFAM7VCAP7LH24E.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/SCKXDXDD7BBO3NMFNOAHQSRIWA.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/WFH5DIWB2FHPXOD6LHBMVBQYUA.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/VHFZYBOGKRFTPOIGHROBXS6QL4.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/65W5D2CQAZGNLCCZXSSTL5TM5U.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/NN3NM3QBXRDYDIHIPBXJFXEAHM.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/AHN3N4SMM5GO7GGTPH55YDYW6Y.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/CIYWUHMB4FETXH3NFGVRYNUSAQ.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/J2ZQVOOMEZD4TECOQI5HCVZDJM.jfif)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/AQ4QBYNVXVD3BPVLT3XOBAL7ZU.jfif)
“We’re excited to be a part of (a) broader effort,” said Dale Ketcham with Space Florida. “This is Elon Musk and SpaceX at their best. They’re really pushing the envelope, and this is driving the excitement of everybody associated with the space community as much as anything that is happening.”
Earlier this year, NASA awarded SpaceX a nearly $2.9 billion contract for a Starship human lander to bring astronauts to the surface of the moon. SpaceX is planning its first orbital flight test of its Starship in January or February from Texas.
WATCH: SpaceX successfully launches batch of Starlink satellites aboard Falcon 9 rocket
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/12-03-2021/t_6f56482238de42ad875b6daa3d4a5dc9_name_FFsvOUsXwAAJfi3_scaled.jpg)
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/NMQKM3OXJJFCRGOQQ4Y47GZ2BI.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/TCZWNJUL4CCLOKZ4I6GMBDOPFU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/QFFTI5BYKBEX5K6JM35Y3FVEFY.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/PJJ64G5MUVF4BC76EARSASGNE4.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/4AR2XWUUNJD4DOSACNSXJF5V2U.jpg)