The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Visitor Complex’s popular bus tour recently debuted a new stop that gives the public memorable views of an active space port.
The Gantry at LC-39 opened last month and features a 360-degree view of KSC and active launch pads from the four-story structure.
The expansion also includes more historic artifacts, a shaded play area and several air-conditioned spaces with hands-on activities plus a rocket simulation that attracts a crowd.
For the past decade, the area was used for premium viewing for rocket launches, but the public can now go as part of general ticket admission.
For the visitor complex, it’s an opportunity to tell a different story about Earth and human exploration into space while enhancing the popular bus tour that ends with the grand finale of the Saturn V rocket at the second stop.
“The mission was to take a place that we really wanted to get back up and running again and make it a constant stop rather than just for launch viewing on a here and there basis,” said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer of the visitor complex.
“You can actually get out and then get a whole new story while you’re looking at the pads and the Vehicle Assembly Building. So it really brings, in my opinion, the whole space center together.”
Guests stand by for the countdown to a simulated static fire test. The simulated rocket’s ignition is loud and exciting but more foggy than fiery on a hot Summer day, fortunately.
The public’s reaction? They are loving it, Protze said.
“We have kids actually launch stomp rockets, right up 40 feet up through the middle of the gantry, which has been an absolute hit,” Protze said.
At the top of the gantry, guests are rewarded with air conditioning and hands-on technology to build their own rockets.
The new bus stop also opened the Earth Information Center, an indoor facility, with a new theater show and digital displays. Meanwhile, the youngest visitors will get a kick out of a shaded play area featuring sculptures of wildlife.
The visitor complex also upgraded the launch viewing seating there with a large LED screen and the capacity to hold 600 people.
KSC is on track for 100-plus rocket launches this year as tourists descend on the Space Coast.
Scheduled as early as April 2026, the highly-anticipated Artemis II will send astronauts back to the moon for the first time since 1972. On that mission will be Christina Koch and Victor Glover, the first woman and person of color, respectively, to ever land on the moon.
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