Kennedy Space Center, Patrick Air Force Base close for government shutdown

Update 2 p.m.: The U.S. Senate has voted to reopen the government. Normal operations are expected to resume Tuesday.

Kennedy Space Center employees are in the process of closing the spaceport by noon today because of the federal government's shutdown.

Nearly 2,000 NASA civil servants are furloughed and will not report back to work until a budget deal is reached. A small number must continue working full- or part-time to perform essential safety functions for people, flight hardware or facilities.

Teams this morning were asked to report to work for four hours to perform an orderly closeout, then go home. Up to 6,000 contractors are following a similar script, taking direction from their managers.

The KSC Visitor Complex remains open, but is not offering bus tours inside KSC. However, buses will continue to shuttle guests to the Apollo/Saturn V Center.

If a budget agreement is reached in the early afternoon, KSC would resume normal operations Tuesday.

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A similar process is in effect at Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

"The unfortunate reality of the current situation is that lives and operations are disrupted," Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, the base and wing commander, wrote to employees.

Only uniformed personnel who make up about a quarter of the work force will continue to report for duty during the shutdown. Civilians will be furloughed.

"We simply cannot accomplish our primary mission of assured access to space without our incredible civilian workforce," Monteith said. "This challenging time should not divide but unite us. My hope is that the furlough’s duration will be brief and become a mere speed bump in our Drive to 48 launches a year."

The Eastern Range will not be able to support rocket launches or test activities, such as SpaceX's test-firing of Falcon Heavy engines, without civilians working.

"We remain hopeful that the Congress will quickly resolve their differences and put our partners in the Air Force and NASA back to doing their important work as soon as possible," SpaceX said in a statement. "This shutdown impacts SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy demonstration, which is critical for future national security space missions. It also impacts critical missions for our customers, including important international allies scheduled to launch shortly from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base, as well as upcoming missions this spring to resupply the International Space Station."

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