Editing Vehicle Assembly Building (section)

== Future ==
[[File:Space Shuttle Discovery in NASA's VAB.JPG|right|thumbnail|''[[Space Shuttle Discovery|Discovery]]'' in the Vehicle Assembly Building waiting for a ferry flight to Dulles, Virginia, for permanent display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. ]]

Originally, after the Space Shuttle was intended to be retired in 2010, the VAB would have been renovated for stacking of the [[Ares I]] and [[Ares V]] launch vehicles for the [[Constellation program]]; however, the Constellation program was cancelled in 2010. The Space Shuttle itself was retired in 2011, after which NASA temporarily (as early as 2012) offered public tours of the VAB. These tours were temporarily discontinued in February 2014 to allow for renovations to take place.<ref name="spacecom-20140122">{{Cite news |last=Pearlman |first=Robert Z. |date=January 22, 2014 |title=Rocket Renovations Will End Public Tours of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building |url=https://www.space.com/24372-nasa-vehicle-assembly-building-tours-end.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208205121/https://www.space.com/24372-nasa-vehicle-assembly-building-tours-end.html |archive-date=December 8, 2023 |work=[[Space.com]]}}</ref>

The NASA FY2013 budget included US$143.7 million for Construction of Facilities (CoF) requirements in support of what is now known as the [[Artemis program]] and its vehicles, including the [[Space Launch System]] (SLS) and [[Orion spacecraft]]. NASA began modifying Launch Complex 39 at KSC to support the new SLS in 2014, beginning with major repairs, code upgrades and safety improvements to the Launch Control Center, Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and the VAB Utility Annex. This initial work is required to support any launch vehicle operated from Launch Complex 39 and will allow NASA to begin modernizing the facilities, while vehicle-specific requirements are being developed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/632670main_NASA_FY13_Budget_CECR-508.pdf |title=NASA FY13 Budget |access-date=2012-06-09 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051144/http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/632670main_NASA_FY13_Budget_CECR-508.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The VAB could be used to some extent for assembly and processing of any future vehicles using Launch Complex 39, in addition to renovations for SLS capabilities. On June 16, 2015, NASA released an announcement for proposals (AFP) seeking interest in using the VAB High Bay 2 and other complex facilities for commercial use in "assembling, integration, and testing of launch vehicles". This move is in line with the intent to migrate KSC towards acting as a spaceport accessible to both government and commercial ventures.<ref name="nasa-15-128">{{Cite press release |editor-last=Schierholz |editor-first=Stephanie |editor2-last=Chevalier |editor2-first=Mary Ann |date=June 15, 2015 |title=NASA Solicits Proposals for Use of Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 2 |url=https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-solicits-proposals-for-use-of-kennedy-space-centers-vehicle-assembly-building-high-bay-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219090907/https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-solicits-proposals-for-use-of-kennedy-space-centers-vehicle-assembly-building-high-bay-2/ |archive-date=February 19, 2024 |publisher=[[NASA]]}}</ref>

On April 21, 2016, NASA announced the selection of [[Orbital ATK]] (bought by [[Northrop Grumman]] as of 2019) to begin negotiations for High Bay 2. The "potential agreement" included an existing mobile launcher platform.<ref name="nasa-09-16">{{Cite press release |editor-last=Chevalier |editor-first=Mary Ann |date=April 21, 2016 |title=NASA Selects Orbital ATK to Begin Negotiations for Space in Iconic Vehicle Assembly Building |url=https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-orbital-atk-to-begin-negotiations-for-space-in-iconic-vehicle-assembly-building/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219091147/https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-orbital-atk-to-begin-negotiations-for-space-in-iconic-vehicle-assembly-building/ |archive-date=February 19, 2024 |access-date=June 29, 2016 |publisher=[[NASA]]}}</ref> NASA subsequently completed the agreement in August 2019 to lease High Bay 2 and [[Mobile Launcher Platform]] 3 to Northrop Grumman for use with their [[OmegA]] launch vehicle.<ref name="collectspace-20190816">{{Cite news |last=Pearlman |first=Robert Z. |date=August 16, 2019 |title=Apollo to OmegA: NASA signs over legacy launcher for new rocket |url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-081619a-northrop-grumman-omega-mlp-vab.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923100542/http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-081619a-northrop-grumman-omega-mlp-vab.html |archive-date=September 23, 2023 |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=collectspace.com}}</ref> However, development of OmegA was subsequently cancelled in September 2020. Northrop Grumman had yet to make any modifications to High Bay 2, and were using it for the storage of OmegA hardware. This hardware was scheduled to be removed from the VAB and returned to Northrop Grumman by the end of September 2020.<ref name="nsf-20200911">{{Cite news |last=Bergin |first=Chris |date=September 11, 2020 |title=OmegA Launch Tower to be demolished as KSC 39B fails to become a multi-user pad |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/09/omega-mlp-ksc-39b-multi-user-pad/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603075853/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/09/omega-mlp-ksc-39b-multi-user-pad/ |archive-date=June 3, 2023 |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=[[NASASpaceFlight.com]]}}</ref>