A Falcon Heavy launches the ViaSat-3 F3 satellite from KSC’s Launch Complex 39A in April 2026. Credit: SpaceX
WASHINGTON — A report by NASA’s inspector general is the latest to highlight the problems that the increasing number of launches is posing to spaceports.
NASA’s Office of Inspector General released a report June 22 on NASA launch infrastructure at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. It concluded that those spaceports are not equipped to handle the growing demand for government and commercial launches.
“NASA’s launch infrastructure is dated and lacks the capacity to meet the growing demands of the agency and government and commercial partners,” it stated. “Based on current launch projections, Kennedy and Wallops are expected to operate near capacity in the 2028 to 2029 time frame.”
NASA data included in the report projected launches supported by KSC, which includes those at neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, to grow from 109 in 2025 to 268 in 2030. Launches from Wallops would grow from 17 in 2025 to 44 in 2030, according to the agency.
