Orbiter Processing Facility

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Space Shuttle Columbia at the entrance of the Orbiter Processing Facility

A NASA Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) is one of three hangars where space shuttle orbiters undergo maintenance between flights.

[edit] Processing flow

Discovery inside the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 following the completion of mission STS-114.

When a shuttle mission is completed, the orbiter is parked in its OPF. Its previous mission payloads are removed and the vehicle is fully inspected, tested, and refurbished, including re-tiling areas of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) where necessary. Then, part of the payloads for its next mission are installed and checked out.

All three such facilities, OPF-1, OPF-2 and OPF-3, are located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. OPF-1 and OPF-2 are connected together with a low bay in between them, while OPF-3 is across the street. They are located west of the Vehicle Assembly Building, where the orbiter is mated with its External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters before launch.