[1] 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.

Kennedy Space Center 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 Operations and Checkout Building (which was originally to be the prime factory for station launch processing) was insufficient in size to accommodate all the components.

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.

The integration testing was not originally in the ISS plan, but in 1995 Johnson Space Center designers began to consider it and embedding KSC personnel at module factories.

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

[9] Office floor area: 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) of office/work space As of 24 June 2023[update]:[citation needed] When the lights in the building are on, most of these components can be seen on the live webcam from the facility.

[12] 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[13] and on-board payloads, as part of the Commercial Resupply Services program.

[22] 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 exhibitions take place where visitors (from children and teenagers to university students)[23][24] can visit the SSPF and its ballroom to learn about the building's history,[25] manufacturing acitivies, biological and chemical sciences, and the future vision of space operations at Kennedy Space Center, including the Lunar Gateway mockup module.