Horizontal Integration Facility
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A horizontal integration facility is a location within which the stages of a multistage rocket are brought together, before the assembled stack is rolled out to the launch pad and raised into vertical position for launch.
[edit] CCAFS
At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 37 the Horizontal Integration Facility is a seven-story white building containing 2 bays measuring 250 feet by 100 feet each. Construction was completed in June 2000. Its floors are said[who?] to be the most level in the U.S. varying only 3/8 inch across each bay. It is used in the assembly of the Delta rockets. The first and second stages, along with any boosters that are being used for that flight, are integrated in the HIF, and then the stack is moved to and raised into vertical position on the pad. The payload and fairing are assembled later.
A similar facility is being built further North at Launch Complex 40, for the Falcon 9 rocket.
