Launch Complex 39 Press Site, Press center at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, US

Launch Complex 39 Press Site is a media facility on the grounds of Kennedy Space Center in Florida, built to support journalists and broadcast crews covering space launches. It offers workspace, conference rooms, and the technical setup needed for live reporting during launch operations.

The site has been the base for covering every crewed American space launch since Apollo 8 in 1968, earning a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Over the decades it evolved alongside American spaceflight, from the Moon missions through the Space Shuttle era and into the age of commercial launches.

The 100-seat auditorium in the audio-video support building, built in 1980, is named for CNN correspondent John Holliman, who covered space exploration until his death in 1998. Pre- and post-launch news conferences are held there. A 1975 plaque from Sigma Delta Chi marks the site as a Historic Site in Journalism for the 3,493 journalists from the U.S. and 55 other countries who covered Apollo 11.

The press site sits on an elevated mound just south of the Vehicle Assembly Building, about 3 miles west-southwest of Pad A and 3.4 miles southwest of Pad B. Access is limited to accredited media, so credentials must be arranged in advance; the site is not part of the public Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex tour.

During the Space Shuttle Program, the flag of the specific orbiter flying that day was raised alongside the American flag at the press site on launch mornings. This meant you could tell which shuttle was about to fly simply by looking at the flagpole before the countdown ended.