Mobile launcher platform

A mobile launcher platform (MLP), also known as mobile launch platform, is a structure used to support a large multistage space vehicle which is assembled (stacked) vertically in an integration facility (e.g. the Vehicle Assembly Building) and then transported by a crawler-transporter (CT) to a launch pad. This becomes the support structure for launch.

The use of mobile launcher platform is a part of the Integrate-Transfer-Launch (ITL) system, which involves vertical assembly, transport, and launch of rockets. The concept was first implemented in the 1960s for the United States Air Force's Titan III rocket, and it was later used by NASA for Saturn V, Space Shuttle, and Space Launch System, with similar systems being used by ULA, ISRO and JAXA for some of their larger rockets.

Alternatives to the ITL procedure include horizontal assembly and transport to the pad, used by Roscosmos, by the United Launch Alliance for the Delta IV family, and by SpaceX for the Falcon 9 family, and vertical assembly on the launch pad, used for smaller launch vehicles, the Saturn I family, and the SpaceX Starship.

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