With the advent of the first large space vehicle, the SATURN, the ground support equipment and launch facility designer is faced with the necessity of conceiving and building an unprecedented launch system concurrent with the vehicle development. The paper intends to present a comprehensive picture of the problems involved and how they are solved. It follows the SATURN through the various modes of operation such as transportation over land and water, checkout, handling and erection, propellant loading, and describes the facilities at the launch site.
