Future Land Use

The Future Land Use Plan promotes the highest, best and most efficient use of land area resources balanced with protecting environmental resources and directing new development to suitable locations that can accommodate additional capacity.

• An understanding of existing land use characteristics forms the basis of an overall development strategy to support continuing NASA programs and encourage future non-NASA opportunities.
• The Future Land Use Plan promotes compatible relationships between adjacent land uses, encouraging infill development and preserving environmentally sensitive areas.
• Land use classifications build upon existing functions with recommendations for how land and facilities should be used in the future.
• A center-wide Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) was conducted in conjunction with the Master Plan that assesses the future environmental impacts of KSC at its highest potential development build-out.

Future Land Use

Future Land Use outlines a development framework that will support the growth of the multi-user spaceport model. Building on the land use descriptions outlined in the Existing Land Use section, the Future Land Use Plan outlines where development can occur, how land can be used, and how to expand strategic capabilities to support KSC’s evolution to a multi-user spaceport. Through this approach, KSC is better able to promote smart development by separating potentially hazardous operations from less-hazardous operational areas and non-NASA operations from NASA operations.

Implementing the future land considerations outlined in this Master Plan will promote the right-sizing of NASA operations at KSC and attract non-NASA investment by providing more operational autonomy. The consolidation of NASA operations into a smaller geographic footprint is a major component of the Future Land Use Plan. Applying the Central Campus concept will allow NASA to recapitalize dispersed non-hazardous functions and capabilities into more efficient facilities with a smaller footprint. Likewise, directing future NASA and non-NASA operations into appropriate land uses with well-defined activities will streamline safety and security considerations while promoting the maximum utilization of KSC’s horizontal infrastructure capacities.  The Future Land Use Plan supports the expansion of the quinti-modal transportation access (road, rail, sea, air and space) to provide increased support for all users of the multi-user spaceport.

KSC Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)

A center-wide PEIS was conducted in parallel with the Master Plan Update to evaluate the potential environmental impacts from proposed operations and activities across a 20-year horizon, soliciting feedback from cooperating federal agencies and the general public.  As a result of comments received during the public scoping process, NASA developed three development alternatives assessed in the PEIS.  Under the first of these, the Proposed Action, KSC would transition to a multi-user spaceport. A number of new land uses are proposed, including two seaports and horizontal and vertical launch and landing facilities. There would be changes in the acreage of existing designated land use categories at KSC.

The second option -- Alternative 1 -- was crafted as a direct response to concerns expressed in comments received during the PEIS public scoping period, as well as other observations and data acquired from stakeholders and other agencies during the scoping process.  Alternative 1 is similar to the proposed action in many regards, except for the decreased size of horizontal launch and landing capabilities, reduction of three new vertical launch pads to two, and the elimination of two seaport areas. 

In the No Action Alternative, KSC management would continue its emphasis on dedicated NASA Programs and would not transition in the coming years towards a multi-user spaceport controlled by an independent spaceport authority with fully integrated NASA Programs and non-NASA users. Rather, each NASA Program would continue to be operated as an independent entity to a significant degree, to be funded separately, and to manage activities and buildings in support of its own program. There would continue to be a limited non-NASA presence at KSC.

After release of the Draft PEIS and a public and agency comment period, Alternative 1 was designated as the preferred alternative as it allows for the continuing evolution of KSC toward a multiuser spaceport while reducing and mitigating for potential environmental impacts.  The PEIS Record of Decision (ROD) was signed by NASA HQ on March 10, 2017, officially adopting Future Land Use Map Alternative 1 as KSC’s future land use map.