National Register of Historic Places

Vehicle Assembly Building-High Bay and Low Bay

Kennedy Space Center, Brevard County, Florida
Listed
January 21, 2000
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
99001642

About this property

The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Saturn V, the Space Shuttle and the Space Launch System, and stack them vertically onto one of three mobile launcher platforms used by NASA. As of March 2022, the first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was assembled inside in preparation for the Artemis I mission, launched on November 16, 2022. At 129,428,000 ft3 (3,665,000 m3), it is the eighth-largest building in the world by volume as of 2022. The building is at Launch Complex 39 at KSC, 149 miles (240 km) south of Jacksonville, 219 miles (352 km) north of Miami, and 50 miles (80 km) due east of Orlando, on Merritt Island on the Atlantic coast of Florida. The VAB is the largest single-story building in the world, was the tallest building (526 ft or 160 m) in Florida until 1974, and is the tallest building in the United States outside an urban area.

Location

Kennedy Space Center, Brevard County, Florida
28.58578, -80.65106

Categories

OTHERENGINEERING
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Launch Control Center
Industrial
0.1 mi
Press Site-Clock and Flag Pole
Listed
0.4 mi
Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities
Listed
1 mi
Crawlerway
Industrial
1.5 mi
Launch Complex 39
Modern
2.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Vehicle Assembly Building-High Bay and Low Bay listed on the National Register?

Vehicle Assembly Building-High Bay and Low Bay was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 21, 2000.

What type of historic resource is Vehicle Assembly Building-High Bay and Low Bay?

Vehicle Assembly Building-High Bay and Low Bay is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Vehicle Assembly Building-High Bay and Low Bay?

The period of significance for Vehicle Assembly Building-High Bay and Low Bay is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Vehicle Assembly Building-High Bay and Low Bay?

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