They lease the launch pads, e.g. 39a has a 20 year lease. They can probably do a lot of spacey things on there for the duration. https://www.nbcnews.com/scienc

They lease the launch pads, e.g. 39a has a 20 year lease. They can probably do a lot of spacey things on there for the duration. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/spacex-signs-20-year-lease-historic-launch-pad-39a-n81226 https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/spacex-signs-20-year-l... edit: looking at the article map, this is patch of farmland a bit further away from the launch pad, so they probably acquired it for development.