Air Force Space Command has approved a five-year license for SpaceX—Space Exploration Technologies Corp.—to operate from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. SpaceX will have to “pay for all improvements, construction, and maintenance” associated with SpaceX operations at SLC-40 and does not have exclusive use of the site, per an AFSPC statement. SpaceX, created by entrepreneur Elon Musk as a lower cost space launch operation, already has an agreement to operate from the West Coast launch facility at Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
