Site
Landing Zones 1 and 2 are located at the location of the former Launch Complex 13, which has been demolished and replaced by two circular landing pads 282 feet in diameter and marked with a stylized X from the SpaceX company logo.[4] Four more 150 ft diameter pads were initially planned to be built to support the simultaneous recovery of additional boosters used by the Falcon Heavy, although only one extra pad has been built. Planned infrastructure additions to support operations includes improved roadways for crane movement, a rocket pedestal area, remote-controlled fire suppression systems in case of a landing failure, and a large concrete foundation, away from the future three landing pads, for attaching the booster stage when taking the rocket from vertical to horizontal orientation.[5]
Operations at the facility began after seven earlier landing tests by SpaceX, five of which involved intentional descents into the open ocean, followed by two failed landing tests on an ocean-going platform.[6][7] As of March 2, 2015, the Air Force's sign for LC-13 was briefly replaced with a sign identifying it as Landing Complex.[8] The site was renamed Landing Zone prior to its first use as a landing site.[9][10] Elon Musk indicated in January 2016 that he thought the likelihood of successful landings for all of the attempted landings in 2016 would be approximately 70 percent, hopefully rising to 90 percent in 2017, and cautioned that the company expects a few more failures.[11]
In July 2016, SpaceX applied for permission to build two additional landing pads at Landing Zone 1 for landing the boosters from Falcon Heavy flights.[12]
In May 2017, construction began on a second, smaller landing pad known as Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2). Located approximately 1017 feet northwest of the original pad, LZ-2 is primarily used for landing side boosters of Falcon Heavy missions. By June 2017, the pad was enhanced with radar-reflective paint to improve landing precision.[13][14]
As of August 2025, Falcon 9 boosters typically land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) and only occasionally use LZ-2. One such exception occurred on December 11, 2022, during the Hakuto-R Mission 1, when booster B1073-5 landed on LZ-2. At the time, LZ-1 was occupied by booster B1069-4 from the OneWeb Flight #15 mission, launched on December 8, 2022. This marked the first time a Falcon 9 booster landed on LZ-2.
During a press conference ahead of the Crew-11 mission, William Gerstenmaier announced that the landing of booster B1094 would mark the final use of Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1). SpaceX's lease on the Launch Complex 13 site expired at the end of July 2025 and transitioned to joint use by Vaya Space and Phantom Space. As of August 2025, SpaceX is working to construct new landing zones co-located at its LC-39A and SLC-40 launch facilities. Landing Zone 2 continued to be used for Falcon 9 recoveries until its last landing for NROL-77 mission on December 9, 2025.[15][16][17]
LC-13 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is being transitioned to a joint use by Vaya Space and Phantom Space, while SpaceX will make new landing pads within LC39A and SLC40 launch complexes.[18]
