Image: SpaceX and Canaveral Port Authority
According to Space Explored, SpaceX is expanding its presence at Port Canaveral in Florida by erecting a new tent structure in the space it currently occupies at the facility. The proposed structure has been detailed in permits filed with the Canaveral Port Authority (CPA).
SpaceX uses Port Canaveral to dispatch droneships and recovery ships in order to recover boosters and rocket fairings from launches, in addition to storing recovered assets, launch equipment, and vessel components.
According to a side-view of the new tent SpaceX provided to the CPA, the structure will consist of Sea Van containers stacked two-high on each side to act as walls, along with a canopy built on top of them.
Image: SpaceX and Big Top Manufacturing
I spy North Cargo Pier Six edition:
Dragon test capsule
Fairing half for recovery practice
Booster stand
Containers for ASOG (probably)
Three Intelesat domes possibly for ASOG and the new fairing vessels? pic.twitter.com/iTx6Ph2ekS— Julia Bergeron (@julia_bergeron) May 30, 2021
Going by the permits, the proposed structure appears to be a 40′ square. What SpaceX will use the new structure for, however, wasn’t detailed in the permits and currently remains unknown.
It’s safe to say that the company probably plans storing equipment at the new tent, and the structure could even serve as an extension to SpaceX’s Fairing Storage Tent at the port.
Last week, SpaceX deployed another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit in what was the 100th consecutive successful launch for its Falcon 9 boosters. The same launch also marked the fifth time SpaceX reused one of its rocket fairings — an industry record.
