Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ferry flights generally originate at the Edwards Air Force Base in California or on rare occasions White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico following missions which land there, especially in the early days of the Space Shuttle program or when weather at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the Kennedy Space Center prevents ending missions there. Flights generally end at the SLF. A number of flights have begun at the Dryden Flight Research Center following delivery of the orbiter from Rockwell International to NASA from the nearby facilities in Palmdale, California.