The Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), also known as Launch and Landing Facility (LLF), is an airport located on Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Kennedy Space Center and was used by Space Shuttle for landing until July 2011. It was also used for takeoffs and landings for NASA training jets such as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and for civilian aircraft.
Aerial view of Shuttle Landing Facility in 2012
The Mate-Demate Device at the Shuttle Landing Facility
Space Shuttle Atlantis landing after STS-122
X-37B stationary after OTV-4
The John F. Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources and operate facilities on each other's property.
KSC shown in white; CCSFS in green
Image: VAB and SLS
Image: Hurricane Matthew Damage Survey (KSC 20161008 PH CSH01 01 0098)
Image: Lunar planetary landscape and runway at KSC built to test Morpheus lander