Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the chief civilian space
launch facility in the United States. It is located adjacent to Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral, Fla. The
center began operation in 1951 as the Experimental Missile Firing Branch of the Army Ordnance Guided Missile Center in Huntsville, Ala. In 1960 these became, respectively, the Launch Operations Directorate and the Marshall Space Flight Center. The directorate was made the independent launch operations center in July 1962 and was renamed in 1963 for President John F. Kennedy, who had committed the United States to landing astronauts on the Moon before 1970.Because of the commitment to a lunar landing, larger space launch facilities were needed, which were built on nearby Merritt Island. The Merritt Island launch area was incorporated as part of the space center in July 1965. New facilities, designated Launch
Complex 39, included a vehicle assembly building for vertical assembly of the Saturn V rocket Ñsee Saturn (rocket)Ñtwo launch pads, and a launch control center. A complex for administrative and operational support was also built.In addition to sending men to the Moon and orbiting the first U.S. space station, Kennedy Space Center is responsible for smaller civilian launches that must use air force launch pads at the cape. The center was designated (1973) as the eastern launch site for the reusable Space Shuttle. Launch Complex 39 was modified to accommodate the shuttle, and a new airstrip and special hangars were built for recovering and refurbishing it.