The new facility, which will be capable of supporting large aircraft like the Lockheed L-1011 carrier plane for the X-34 reusable test vehicle as well as new spacecraft projects, is a joint venture between the Florida authority and NASA.

The facility, to be named the RLV/X-Vehicle Support Complex, will include a hangar for the planes and rocketships, a support building, a convoy staging area, and a sheltered apron for larger vehicles such as Space Shuttle Orbiters. Funding for the complex will be provided by $4 million from the state of Florida for the RLV hangar as well as NASA money for the support buildings.

The new complex is to be completed by 1999, when landings of the X-34 test craft may occur at the Kennedy Space Center following drops from the L-1011 orbiting Edwards Air Base in California. A second, and as yet unfunded series of X-34 tests would include landings of the winged suborbital craft in rain and crosswinds, weather environments common to the Florida area.

True commercial space operations would require the ability of a carrier cargo vehicle to fly in poor weather conditions, situations that routinely ground today's Space Shuttles and expendable rocket launches.

The state of Florida is currently developing other facilities at Cape Canaveral to further space commerce. These include the building and refurbishment of two rocket pads, a new rocket motor storage facility, a support facility for small research spacecraft, and a launch industry customer service center.

Reuseable Launch Vehicle Archive at Spacer.Com

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