The Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) is a three-story industrial building at

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 196 ...

for the

manufacture Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary secto ...

and

processing Processing is a free graphical library and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts, new media art, and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching non-programmers the fundamentals of computer programming ...

of flight hardware, modules, structural components and solar arrays of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

, and future space stations and commercial spacecraft. It was built in 1992 at the space complex's industrial area, just east of the

Operations and Checkout Building The Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) (previously known as the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building) is a historic building on Merritt Island, Florida, United States. The five-story structure is in the Industrial Area of NA ...

. The SSPF includes two processing bays, an airlock, operational control rooms, laboratories, logistics areas for equipment and machines, office space, a ballroom and conference halls, and a cafeteria. The processing areas, airlock, and laboratories are designed to support non-hazardous Space Station and

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program n ...

payloads in 100,000 class clean work areas. The building has a total floor area of .

History and construction

During the re-designing phase of

Space Station Freedom Space Station ''Freedom'' was a NASA project to construct a permanently crewed Earth-orbiting space station in the 1980s. Although approved by then-president Ronald Reagan and announced in the 1984 State of the Union address, ''Freedom'' ...

in early 1991, Congress approved new plans for NASA to lead the project and begin manufacturing its components for the future

was selected as the ideal launch processing complex for the ISS, as well as hosting all the internationally manufactured modules and station elements. However the

(which was originally to be the prime factory for station launch processing) was insufficient in size to accommodate all the components. On March 26, 1991, engineers at Kennedy Space Center; along with contractor Metric Constructions Inc. of Tampa Florida, broke ground on a new $56 million Space Station Processing Facility, situated adjacent to the O&C. The design called for a 457,000-square-foot multifunction building housing an enormous processing bay, laboratories, control rooms, staging areas, communications and control facilities, and office space for some 1,400 NASA and contractor employees. KSC Deputy Director Gene Thomas described the construction: "The skyline around here is really going to change. This will be the biggest facility that we have built since the Apollo days". The SSPF used reinforced concrete and some 4,300 tons of steel. The building was structurally completed and topped out by mid 1992. After three years of construction, interior fitting and equipment set-up, the SSPF formally opened on June 23, 1994.

Operations and manufacturing processes

At the SSPF, space station modules, trusses and solar arrays are prepped and made ready for launch. The low and high bays are fully air conditioned and ambient temperature is maintained at at all times. Workers and engineers wear full non-contaminant clothing while working. Modules receive cleaning and polishing, and some areas are temporarily disassembled for the installation of cables, electrical systems and plumbing. In another area, shipments of spare materials are available for installation. International Standard Payload Rack frames are assembled and welded together, allowing the installation of instruments, machines and allowing science experiment boxes to be fitted. Once racks are fully assembled, they are hoisted by a special manually operated robotic crane and carefully maneuvered into place inside the space station modules. Each rack weighs from 700 to 1,100 kg, and connect inside the module on special mounts with screws and latches. Cargo bags for MPLM modules are filled with their cargo such as food packages, science experiments and other miscellaneous items on-site in the SSPF, and loaded into the module by the same robotic crane and strapped in securely. Many of the builders accompanied their modules from around the world during their manufacturing, and worked at KSC for months to years during final assembly. Many ISS modules were renamed after successfully launching.

Station Integration Testing

Regarding the launch of modules of the

(ISS), there had been philosophical differences for years between designers and payload processors whether to ship-and-shoot or perform integration testing prior to launch. The former involved building a station module and launching it without ever physically testing it with other modules. The integration testing was not originally in the ISS plan, but in 1995

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late ...

designers began to consider it and embedding KSC personnel at module factories. Multi-Element Integration Testing (MEIT) of ISS modules at KSC was officially in the books in 1997. Three MEIT and one Integration Systems Test (IST) tests were conducted for the ISS, taking about three years from planning to completion and closure: * MEIT1: US Lab, Z1 truss, P6 truss, and a

Node 1 upright=1.0, The ''Unity'' module as seen in May 2011 The ''Unity'' connecting module, also known as Node 1, is the first U.S.-built component of the International Space Station (ISS). It connects the Russian and United States segments of th ...

emulator **Planning began in 1997, Testing began January 1999 * MEIT2: S0 truss/Mobile Transporter/Mobile Base System, S1 truss, P1 truss, P3 truss, P4 truss, and a US Lab emulator. * MEIT3:

Japanese Experiment Module Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, Node 2, and the US Lab emulator **Completed in 2007 * Node2 IST: Node 2 and US Lab and Node 1 emulators, as part of the ISS Flight Emulator After the launch of the ''Destiny'', an emulator was built for MEIT testing, since the lab controlled many other modules. Among the items checked were mechanical connections, the ability to flow power and fluids between modules, and the flight software. Numerous issues were found and rectified from these on the ground tests, many of which could not have been fixed in orbit.

Building Specifications

SAGE III at Space Station Processing Facility (23390877722)

ISS s3-s4 truss hoist in the SSPF factory

The SSPF's High Bays provide maximum flexibility for manufacturing, assembly, testing and processing payloads and elements destined for space. The bays are enormous

cleanrooms A cleanroom or clean room is an engineered space, which maintains a very low concentration of airborne particulates. It is well isolated, well-controlled from contamination, and actively cleansed. Such rooms are commonly needed for scientif ...

equipped with

overhead cranes An overhead crane, commonly called a bridge crane, is a type of crane found in industrial environments. An overhead crane consists of two parallel rails seated on longitudinal I-beams attached to opposite steel columns by means of brackets. ...

, commodities-servicing equipment and a secure backup-power supply. The facility also has 15 offline labs.

Intermediate Bay (I-bay)

*Dimensions: in length, by in width *Ceiling height *100,000-class clean work area

High Bay

*Dimensions in length, by in Width *Ceiling height *Can be separated into eight different processing areas

Cranes

*I-bay: Two capacity *High Bay: Two capacity

Commodities and Servicing Equipment

*Ammonia servicing machines *Compressed air supply (125 psi) *Potable water pipes

Electrical Services

*480 V 3-phase power at 60 Hz *Uninterruptible power supply (450 kVA)

Laboratory facilities

*9 independently operated control rooms *15 labs, 2 chemical labs, and 2 darkrooms *1 Certified offline lab for planetary protection processing (Class-100 clean work area) *3 ISS Environmental Simulator (ISSES) Chambers, can be used to expose ISS life science ground controls to ISS environmental conditions (i.e., temperature, humidity). *Experiment Monitoring Area (EMA), used to monitor ISS life science experiments Office floor area: of office/work space

Space Station and space hardware components currently in the SSPF

: *

Multi-Purpose Logistics Module A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and init ...

s ''Raffaello'' and ''Donatello''. * Two Lightweight Multi-Purpose Equipment Support Structure Carriers (LMCs). *

Lunar Gateway The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is the first planned extraterrestrial space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, and short-term habitation module for government-agency astr ...

habitat module, built by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

- used as a training rig. *

Dream Chaser Dream Chaser is an American reusable lifting-body spaceplane being developed by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems. Originally intended as a crewed vehicle, the Dream Chaser Space System is set to be produced after the cargo varia ...

'mini space shuttle' - designed and manufactured by

Sierra Nevada Corporation Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is an American, privately held aerospace and national security contractor specializing in aircraft modification and integration, space components and systems, and related technology products for cybersecurity and ...

. * ISS roll out solar arrays, manufactured by

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

Artemis 1 Artemis 1, officially Artemis I and formerly Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), was an uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission. As the first major spaceflight of NASA's Artemis program, Artemis 1 marked the return of the agency to lunar exploration origina ...

interstage

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...

s * Machinery for experiments in the

Bigelow Aerospace Bigelow Aerospace is an American aeronautics and outer space technology company which manufactures and develops expandable space station modules. Bigelow Aerospace was founded by Robert Bigelow in 1998, and is based in North Las Vegas, Nevada. ...

inflatable habitat mockup When the lights in the building are on, most of these components can be seen on the live webcam from the facility.

Current and Future activities

After the completion of the International Space Station in 2011, the SSPF factory was dormant for several months until early 2012, where the building was slightly refurbished for the moving in of space companies (such as Orbital ATK, SpaceX and eventually Sierra Nevada Corporation) to manufacture, process and load-up Cygnus and

Dragon spacecraft American private space transportation company SpaceX has developed and produced several spacecraft named Dragon. The first family member, now referred to as Dragon 1, flew 23 cargo missions to the ISS between 2010 and 2020 before being retired. ...

and on-board payloads, as part of the

Commercial Resupply Services Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) are a series of flights awarded by NASA for the delivery of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) on commercially operated spacecraft. The first CRS contracts were signed in 2008 and awarde ...

program. NASA's upcoming Artemis mission hardware such as Moon and Mars space station modules, as well as the ''

Dreamchaser ''Dreamchaser'' is the eleventh studio album by English singer Sarah Brightman. This album is Brightman's first collaboration with producer Mike Hedges and centres on the concept of space. The offering was inspired by Brightman's decision to be ...

'' mini space shuttle, have begun manufacturing and processing operations in the high bay as of 2020. The building itself is open to the public and tours are offered free of charge by the employees. Exclusive tours of many areas of the SSPF are part of the Kennedy visitor complex's enhanced bus tour package. In 2016, the laboratories of the SSPF were utilized by many small science companies and student unions with scientific equipment to study the feasibility of growing vegetables in space, such as the Veggie plant growth system, and the Advanced Plant Habitat; to launch as scientific payloads to the

Events

Main Ballroom of the NASA Space Station Processing Facility

When the high bay area is less busy at times, a variety of events and conferences are held in various places within the SSPF building. Occasional

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

exhibitions take place where visitors (from children and teenagers to university students) can visit the SSPF and its ballroom to learn about the building's history, manufacturing acitivies, biological and chemical sciences, and the future vision of space operations at Kennedy Space Center, including the

mockup module. The ballroom also doubles as a lecture hall for presentations. On rare occasions the high bay was once used for the National Space Council's second revived meeting on February 21, 2018. Tenants including

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tech ...

and

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

have also moved facilities into the SSPF.

Gallery

File:SSPF_exterior.jpg, The exterior of the SSPF viewed from NASA Parkway File:Space Station Processing Facility aerial view.jpg, Aerial view of the SSPF in 1995 File:ISS space station modules in the SSPF.jpg, International Space Station modules being manufactured in the SSPF main workshop area File:SSPF_entrance.jpg, The main entrance to the facility File:SSPF purple overview.jpg, A ground level overview of the SSPF high bay and iconic observation windows File:MPLM_inside_the_SSPF.jpg, An MPLM being hoisted by overhead cranes File:ISS columbus in SSPF.jpg, Columbus being moved to a weighing stand before loading in transfer container File:Huge overhead cranes hoist JEM in the SSPF.jpg, The JEM being hoisted to a manufacturing workstand File:Columbus at Kennedy Space Center.jpg,

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...

Columbus Module ''Columbus'' is a science laboratory that is part of the International Space Station (ISS) and is the largest single contribution to the ISS made by the European Space Agency (ESA). Like the ''Harmony'' and ''Tranquility'' modules, the ''Colum ...

File:ISS Kibo module 08-27-2003.jpg, The main Kibo module in its manufacturing workstand, c. 2003 File:Kibo ELM-PS move to payload canniste.jpg, Kibo JLP module transfer to the payload transfer container File:Node 3 in SSPF.JPG, ''Tranquility'' in the SSPF. File:Japanese Experiment Module and its robotic arm in gold light in the SSPF.jpg, A worker assembles parts for the Japanese Experimet Module remote manipulator arm, under gold light File:LOP-G_module_training_mock-up_module_group_photo.jpg, NASA and Lockheed Martin employees group photo with the

module training mock-up inside the SSPF File:LOP-G interior with Astronauts.jpg, Inside the Lunar Gateway mock-up module, with four astronauts. File:ISS-RapidScat arrives at Kennedy Space Center (KSC-2014-2504).jpg, Loading yard File:Cygnus CRS OA-7 in Kennedy SSPF (KSC-20170212-PH SWW01 0112).jpg, Orbital ATK Cygnus CRS-0A-7 File:Cygnus CRS OA-7 in Kennedy SSPF (KSC-20170207-PH SWW01 0096).jpg, ISS Cargo bags File:Space_Station_Processing_Facility,_Kennedy_Space_Center,_Florida,_USA2.jpg, SSPF lobby File:SSPF factory floor view with modules.jpg, Overview of the high bay factory floor filled with space station modules File:Kennedy_Space_Center_64.JPG, A view of an empty workstand from the high bay observation windows File:SSPF_lobby_Sep_2019.jpg, The main visitor entrance lobby to the SSPF in September 2019. Note the signage displays 'International' in addition to the building's name, but is not official. File:Bishop Airlock Module.jpg, The Bishop Airlock Module being made by

Nanoracks Nanoracks LLC is a private in-space services companywhich builds space hardware and in-space repurposing tools.The company also facilitates experiments and launches of CubeSats to Low Earth Orbit. Nanoracks's main office is in Houston, Texa ...

in the high bay, October 7, 2020. File:National Space Council meeting at the John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Feb. 20, 2018 180221-D-SW162-1251 (39511228625).jpg, 7th National Space Council meeting in the high bay, with temporary desk platforms, Feb 21, 2018 File:CRS-21_Science_Experiments_Unpacking_04.jpg, Scientists and students working on SpaceX CRS-21 returned science experiments in the SSPF lab workshop, January 2021 File:ISS roll out solar array in the SSPF.jpg, ISS roll out solar array being made in the SSPF high bay, 2 April 2021

References

{{Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center Buildings and structures in Merritt Island, Florida Manufacturing plants Manufacturing buildings and structures Manufacturing plants in the United States Manufacturing International Space Station Components of the International Space Station