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Sneak Peek Inside The Gantry at LC-39 | PREMIUM LAUNCH VIEWING

Published: August 4 2025

Guests in NASA t-shirts and hats sit on bleachers and point upwards towards the sky in excitement.
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The Gantry at LC-39 offers one-of-a-kind views that you won’t find anywhere else. Not only does it provide a 360° view of Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Cape Canaveral, but it also offers the best public viewing of rocket launches from SLC-41, 40, and 37 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

And what about rocket launches from LC-39A and 39B? The Gantry at LC-39 is so close to both pads that it’s evacuated prior to launches. That’s how close to the action you are.

White bleachers stand in front of a four-story structure. The number 39 is painted onto the grass in front of the bleachers.
The new launch viewing area accommodates twice as many guests with handicapped accessibility.

As we mentioned in a previous blog about the gantry, the four-story observation tower offers unparalleled views of Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Cape Canaveral. Each floor offers new sights and details about the surrounding launch pads and processes that go into a launch.

For live rocket launches, there is no better place to watch than from The Gantry’s official launch viewing area, situated along the Banana Creek River. These seats offer premium viewing to United Launch Alliance (ULA), SpaceX, and Blue Origin launches from Space Launch Complexes (SLC) 41, 40, and 36 located directly across the water.

At only 2.3 miles (3.7 km) from SLC-41, 3.4 miles (5.4 km) from SLC-40, and 10 miles (16 km) from SLC-36, The Gantry at LC-39 gets you twice as close to launches as from the Apollo/Saturn V Center. Even more impressively, it’s the closest public viewing you can get to see a rocket launch anywhere in the country!

Aerial view of Space Launch Complex 41. Three lightning towers surround a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 Rocket. In the background is the Atlantic Ocean.
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 541 rocket is rolled out for launch at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) on Cape Canaveral. SLC-41 is just 2.3 miles (3.7 km) from The Gantry at LC-39, making for a phenomenal sight.
A distant shot of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching from Cape Canaveral. Smoke plumes below the rocket and the launch tower falls towards the ground. The Atlantic Ocean is in the background.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Dragon cargo module launches from Space Launch Complex 40 on Canaveral, 3.4 miles (5.4 km) from The Gantry at LC-39.

Tickets for launch viewing at The Gantry at LC-39 may be available online or in-park as a separate purchase from general admission during available launches. Visit See a Launch for more details.

The Gantry at LC-39 opens summer 2025 as an exciting new experience on the Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and is included in the standard admission ticket.

It is included with the standard admission ticket and features outdoor play areas, historical artifacts, premier launch viewing, and an immersive Earth Information Center, simulated full-sized rocket engine static test fire, and four-story gantry with interactive experiences – all just 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from an active launch pad.

Keep an eye on the Payload Blog for more news and updates.

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