Orbiter Processing Facility
Immediately after landing, the orbiter is towed to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) located west of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) .
The orbiter then undergoes safing procedures in the OPF which include
removing residual fuels and explosive ordnance items. Then the orbiter's
previous mission payloads are removed and the vehicle is fully
inspected, tested, and refurbished for its next mission. These
functions require approximately two-thirds of the time between missions.
The remainder is devoted to the installation and checkout of the
payload for the next mission. Power-up testing of orbiter vehicles in
the OPF are actually controlled from consoles in the Launch Control Complex (LCC) .
OPF-1 and OPF-2 consist of two 2,700 sq meter (29,000 sq ft) high bays
and are separated by a 2,130 sq meter (23,600 sq ft) low bay while OPF-3
is across the street.
OPF Statistics
- Maximum Height: 29 meters (95 ft).
- Maximum Length: 121 meters (397 ft).
- Maximum width: 71 meters (233 ft).
OPF-3 was previously called the Orbiter Maintenance & Refurbishment
Facility (OMRF) but has been upgraded to a fully functioning Orbiter
Processing Facility. OPF-3 is located across the street from OPF-1 and
OPF-2. It is 4,645 sq meters (50,000 sq ft) facility. It consists of a
high bay 29 meters high (95 ft) high and a two-story low bay area.
Detailed map of the Orbiter Processing Facility Area (internal only).
Click Here for Other KSC Facilities.
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Last Updated Thu Jun 18 10:08:52 EDT 1999
Jim Dumoulin (Redacted)
