Launch pad

The entire complex will include a launch mount or launch platform to physically support the vehicle, a service structure with umbilicals, and the infrastructure required to provide propellants, cryogenic fluids, electrical power, communications, telemetry, rocket assembly,[not verified in body] payload processing,[not verified in body] storage facilities for propellants and gases, equipment, access roads, and drainage.

[2] Precursors to modern rocketry, such as fireworks and rocket launchers, did not generally require dedicated launch pads.

[3] A test stand was built for liquid-propellant rockets in Kummersdorf in 1932, where the early designs from the Aggregat series of ballistic missiles were afterwards developed.

[4]: 35 [5]: 52–53 In May 1937, Dornberger, and most of his staff, moved to the Peenemünde Army Research Center on the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast which offered much greater space and secrecy.

[6] Each launch site is unique, but a few broad types can be described by the means by which the space vehicle gets to the pad.

[10] The primary goal of the diverter is to prevent the flame from causing damage to equipment, infrastructure, or the surrounding environment.

As engine exhaust gasses exceed the speed of sound, they collide with the ambient air and shockwaves are created, with noise levels approaching 200 db.

For instance, the maximum admissible overall sound power level (OASPL) for payload integrity is approximately 145 db.

Too much excess hydrogen in the aft during engine start can result in an overpressure blast wave that could damage the launch vehicle and surrounding pad structures.

After the first-stage engine starts, the launcher is held down and not released for flight until all propulsion and vehicle systems are confirmed to be operating normally.

[17] Prior to the launch date, SpaceX sometimes completes a test cycle, culminating in a three-and-a-half second first stage engine static firing as well.