Landing Zone 1 and 2

Thefirst-stage booster coreB1019 ofFalcon 9 flight 20 approaching Landing Zone 1 in December 2015
Launch site	Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Coordinates	28°29′09″N80°32′40″W / 28.48583°N 80.54444°W /28.48583; -80.54444
Short name	LZ-1, LZ-2
Operator	SpaceX
LZ-1 landing history Status Retired Landings 54 (53 successful, 1 failure) First landing 21 December 2015 (Falcon 9 flight 20) Last landing 1 August 2025 (SpaceX Crew-11) Associated rockets Falcon 9 Full Thrust,Falcon Heavy,Falcon 9 Block 5 LZ-2 landing history Status Active Landings 14 (all successful) First landing 6 February 2018 (Falcon Heavy test flight) Last landing 14 September 2025 (Cygnus NG-23) Associated rockets Falcon Heavy,Falcon 9 Block 5

Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known asLZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities atCape Canaveral Space Force Station used bySpaceX. They allow the company to land the first stage of itsFalcon 9 rocket or the two side boosters of itsFalcon Heavy rocket.

The facilities were built on land leased in February 2015 on the site ofLaunch Complex 13.^[1][2] Landing Zone 1 saw its first use on 21 December 2015 whenB1019 touched down duringFalcon 9 flight 20. Landing Zone 2 was added ahead of the firstFalcon 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 theSpaceX Crew-11 mission ahead of being reactivated as Space Launch Complex 13. Landing Zone 2 will continue to be used for Falcon 9 recoveries whilst SpaceX constructs replacement landing zones adjacent toLaunch Complex 39A andSpace Launch Complex 40.

Landing Zones 1 and 2 are located at the location of Launch Complex 13, which has been demolished and replaced by two circular landing pads 282 feet (86 m) in diameter and marked with a stylizedX from the SpaceX company logo.^[3][4] Four more 150 feet (46 m) diameter pads were initially planned to be built to support the simultaneous recovery of additional boosters used by theFalcon 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.^[4]

Operations at the facility began after seven earlierlanding tests by SpaceX, five of which involved intentional descents into the open ocean, followed by two failed landing tests on an ocean-going platform.^[5][6]As of March 2, 2015, the Air Force's sign for LC-13 was briefly replaced with a sign identifying it asLanding Complex.^[7] The site was renamedLanding Zone prior to its first use as a landing site.^[8][9]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.^[10]

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.^[11]

In May 2017, construction began on a second, smaller landing pad known as Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2). Located approximately 1,017 feet (310 m) 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.^[12][13]

As of August 2025^[update], 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 theHakuto-R Mission 1, when booster B1073-5 landed on LZ-2. At the time, LZ-1 was occupied by booster B1069-4 from theOneWeb 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 theCrew-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 byVaya Space andPhantom Space. As of August 2025, SpaceX is working to construct new landing zones co-located at its LC-39A and SLC-40 launch facilities. LZ-2 will continue to temporarily support landings until those new pads are operational.^[14][15]

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 withinLC‑39A andSLC‑40 launch complexes.^[16]

For landings at sea, seeAutonomous spaceport drone ship

Launch sites atCape Canaveral Space Force Station andKennedy Space Center

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  Active pads

  Active pads not used for launches

  Inactive leased pads

  Inactive unleased pads

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LC-39B

2

LC-39A

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LC-48

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SLC-41

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SLC-40

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LC-47

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SLC-37

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LC-34

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SLC-20

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LC-19

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LC-16

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LC-15

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LC-14

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LC-13 (LZ-2)

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LC-12

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LC-11

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LC-36

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LC-1,LC-2,LC-3, andLC-4

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SLC-46

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LC-21 andLC-22

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LC-31 andLC-32

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LC-18

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SLC-17

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LC-26

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LC-5 andLC-6

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LC-30

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LC-25

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LC-29

After approval from theFAA, SpaceX accomplished its first successful landing at the complex withFalcon 9 flight 20 on December 22, 2015UTC;^[17] this was the 8thcontrolled-descent test of a Falcon 9 first stage.^[9][18] A second successful landing at LZ-1 took place shortly after midnight, local time (EDT) on July 18, 2016, as part of theCRS-9 mission, which was the Falcon 9's 27th flight.^[19] The third successful landing was by theCRS-10 mission's first stage on February 19, 2017, which was the Falcon 9's 30th flight.^[20] Landing Zone 2 was first used by the maiden launch ofFalcon Heavy on February 6, 2018, when the rocket's two side boosters touched down on LZ-1 and LZ-2.^[21] Later on, SpaceX will retire these two landing zones and add threelanding zones forFalcon 9 andFalcon Heavy rockets to conduct to "Return-to-launch-site" landings, two at LC-39A and one at SLC-40.^[22] The last landing on LZ-1 occurred on 1 August 2025.^[23]

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  A person standing in the middle of the main landing pad demonstrates its size.
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  Sign at entrance to Landing Zone 1 site
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  Launch and landing traces of Falcon 9 Flight 20, from launch padSLC-40 to landing pad LZ-1
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  First stage of Falcon 9 Flight 35 on the pad after landing
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  Recovery operations after Falcon 9 Flight 20 landing
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  Falcon Heavy Side Boosters landing on LZ1 and LZ2 in 2018

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLanding Zone 1.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLanding Zone 2.

• SpaceX reusable launch system development program
• Autonomous spaceport drone ship, used to recover first stage boosters at sea

• Computer animation of planned launch and landing of Falcon Heavy boosters (SpaceX)

• SpaceX facilities
• Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
• Buildings and structures completed in 2015
• SpaceX related lists

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