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Landing Zones 1 and 2

Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, were former landing facilities at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station used by SpaceX. They allowed the company to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket or the two side boosters of its Falcon Heavy rocket.

The facilities were built on land leased in February 2015 on the site of Launch Complex 13.[1][2] Landing Zone 1 saw its first use on 21 December 2015 when B1019 touched down during Falcon 9 flight 20. Landing Zone 2 was added ahead of the first Falcon Heavy test flight on 6 February 2018. During a Falcon Heavy launch, both LZs are used, allowing the two side boosters to land simultaneously.

On August 1, 2025, Landing Zone 1 supported its final landing during the SpaceX Crew-11 mission ahead of being reactivated as Space Launch Complex 13. Landing Zone 2 continued to be used for Falcon 9 recoveries until its last landing for NROL-77 mission on December 9, 2025.[3] SpaceX is constructing replacement landing zones adjacent to Launch Complex 39A and Space Launch Complex 40.

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]

Landing history

LZ-1

LZ-2

Booster landings

Detailed history

For landings at sea, see Autonomous spaceport drone shipAfter approval from the FAA, SpaceX accomplished its first successful landing at the complex with Falcon 9 flight 20 on December 22, 2015 UTC;[19] this was the 8th controlled-descent test of a Falcon 9 first stage.[10][20] A second successful landing at LZ-1 took place shortly after midnight, local time (EDT) on July 18, 2016, as part of the CRS-9 mission, which was the Falcon 9's 27th flight.[21] The third successful landing was by the CRS-10 mission's first stage on February 19, 2017, which was the Falcon 9's 30th flight.[22] Landing Zone 2 was first used by the maiden launch of Falcon Heavy on February 6, 2018, when the rocket's two side boosters touched down on LZ-1 and LZ-2.[23] Later on, SpaceX will retire these two landing zones and add three landing zones for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets to conduct to "Return-to-launch-site" landings, two at LC-39A and one at SLC-40.[24] The last landing on LZ-1 occurred on 1 August 2025.[25]

See also

External links

References

  1. 45th Space Wing, SpaceX sign first-ever landing pad agreement at the Cape 45th Space Wing Public Affairs, 10 February 2015, retrieved 10 February 2015^
  2. Mike Gruss. SpaceX Leases Florida Launch Pad for Rocket Landings Space.com, 10 February 2015, retrieved 12 February 2015^
  3. SpaceX launches classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office – Spaceflight Now retrieved 2025-12-24^
  4. Christian Davenport. Elon Musk's SpaceX returns to flight and pulls off dramatic, historic landing The Washington Post, 21 December 2015^
  5. Draft Environmental Assessment for the Space Exploration Technologies Vertical Landing of the Falcon Vehicle and Construction at Launch Complex 13 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Florida USAF, October 2014, retrieved 2015-12-23^
  6. James Dean. SpaceX to try landing booster on a sea platform Florida Today, 6 January 2015, retrieved 8 February 2015^
  7. William Graham. SpaceX Falcon 9 ready for DSCOVR mission NASASpaceFlight.com, 8 February 2015, retrieved 8 February 2015^
  8. SpaceX - SpaceX's Photos - Facebook facebook.com^
  9. Chris Bergin. SpaceX Falcon 9 Static Fires ahead of OG2 RTF mission NASASpaceFlight.com, 2015-12-18, retrieved 2015-12-19^
  10. Rocket landing at Cape Canaveral planned after SpaceX launch SpaceflightNow, 2015-12-19, retrieved 2015-12-21^
  11. Elon Musk. My best guess for 2016: ~70% landing success rate (so still a few more RUDs to go), then hopefully improving to ~90% in 2017 19 January 2016^
  12. Marco Santana. SpaceX seeks approval for two additional landing pads on Space Coast Orlando Sentinel, 18 July 2016, retrieved 20 July 2016^
  13. LZ-1 to LZ-2 distance estimate imgur, JerWah, retrieved 12 September 2018^
  14. Elon Musk. @Pandora659 Yeah, pretty much dead center. We painted the target area with radio reflective paint, which helps the radar be more precise. 4 June 2017^
  15. SpaceX launches classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office – Spaceflight Now retrieved 2025-12-24^
  16. Gerstenmaier said the landing of B1094 will be the final use of Landing Zone 1, but they will continue to use Landing Zone 2. That site, Launch Complex 13 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is being transitioned to a joint use by Vaya Space and Phantom Space. Vaya is aiming for its first launch in 2026. July 30, 2025, retrieved July 30, 2025^
  17. Justin Davenport. Cape launch sites bustling with activity, New Glenn and Starship preparations underway NASASpaceflight, 2025-04-17, retrieved 2025-07-31^
  18. Final use of LZ-1 x.com, July 30, 2025, retrieved July 30, 2025^
  19. William Graham. SpaceX returns to flight with OG2, nails historic core return NASASpaceFlight.com, 2015-12-21, retrieved 2015-12-21^
  20. James Dean. SpaceX wants to land next booster at Cape Canaveral Florida Today, 2015-12-01, retrieved 2 December 2015^
  21. SpaceX launches space station docking port for NASA, The Associated Press, July 18, 2016^
  22. Stephen Clark. Historic launch pad back in service with thundering blastoff by SpaceX Spaceflight Now, 19 February 2017, retrieved 5 March 2017^
  23. Chris Gebhardt. SpaceX successfully debuts Falcon Heavy in demonstration launch from KSC – NASASpaceFlight.com NASASpaceFlight.com, 6 February 2018, retrieved 7 February 2018^
  24. Brooke Edwards. SpaceX proposes increase in rocket launches from Cape Canaveral and new landing zone Florida Today, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  25. ePermit permitting.sjrwmd.com, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  26. Ispace^
  27. Japan will send a transforming robot ball to the moon to test lunar rover tech Space.com, 2021-05-27, retrieved 2022-10-17^
  28. Data Acquisition on the Lunar Surface with a Transformable Lunar Robot, Assisting Development of the Crewed Pressurized Rover JAXA, 27 May 2021, retrieved 14 October 2022^
  29. Rocket Launch Viewing Guide For Cape Canaveral www.launchphotography.com, retrieved 2022-10-17^
  30. SpaceX launches classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office – Spaceflight Now retrieved 2025-12-24^