Military rocket launch site in Florida
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(
November 2022
)
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Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
(
CCSFS
) is an installation of the
United States Space Force
's
Space Launch Delta 45
, located on
Cape Canaveral
in
Brevard County
,
Florida
.
Headquartered at the nearby
Patrick Space Force Base
, the station is the primary launch site for the Space Force's
Eastern Range
[5]
with three
launch pads
currently active (Space Launch Complexes
37B
,
40
, and
41
). The facility is south-southeast of
NASA
's
Kennedy Space Center
on adjacent
Merritt Island
, with the two linked by bridges and causeways. The Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip provides a 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway
[6]
close to the launch complexes for military airlift aircraft delivering heavy and outsized payloads to the Cape.
A number of American space exploration pioneers were launched from CCSFS, including
the first U.S. Earth satellite
(1958),
first U.S. astronaut
(1961),
first U.S. astronaut in orbit
(1962),
first two-man U.S. spacecraft
(1965),
first U.S. uncrewed lunar landing
(1966), and
first three-man U.S. spacecraft
(1968). It was also the launch site for all of the first spacecraft to (separately)
fly past each of the planets
in the Solar System (1962?1977), the
first spacecraft to orbit Mars
(1971) and
roam its surface
(1996), the first
American spacecraft to orbit and land on Venus
(1978), the
first spacecraft to orbit Saturn
(2004), and
to orbit Mercury
(2011), and
the first spacecraft to leave the Solar System
(1977). Portions of the base have been designated a
National Historic Landmark
for their association with the early years of the American space program.
[7]
Cape Canaveral was known as
Cape Canaveral Launch Area
upon its foundation in 1949, but renamed to
LRPG Launching Area
in 1950. It was known as
Cape Canaveral Auxiliary Air Force Base
from 1951 to 1955, and
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex
from 1955 to 1964. The facility was later known as
Cape Kennedy Air Force Station
from 1964 to 1974, and as
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
from 1974 to 1994 and from 2000 to 2020, taking the designation
Cape Canaveral Air Station
from 1994 to 2000.
[8]
[9]
[10]
The facility was renamed "Cape Canaveral Space Force Station" in December 2020.
[11]
[12]
History
[
edit
]
The CCSFS area had been used by the United States government to test missiles since 1949, when President
Harry S. Truman
established the
Joint Long Range Proving Ground
at Cape Canaveral.
[13]
The location was among the best in the continental United States for this purpose, as it allowed for launches out over the Atlantic Ocean, and is closer to the
equator
than most other parts of the United States, allowing rockets to get a boost from the Earth's rotation.
[14]
Air Force proving ground
[
edit
]
On June 1, 1948, the
United States Navy
transferred the former
Banana River Naval Air Station
to the
United States Air Force
, with the Air Force renaming the facility the Joint Long Range Proving Ground (JLRPG) Base on June 10, 1949. On October 1, 1949, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base was transferred from the Air Materiel Command to the Air Force Division of the Joint Long Range Proving Ground. On May 17, 1950, the base was renamed the Long Range Proving Ground Base but three months later was renamed
Patrick Air Force Base
, in honor of Army Maj Gen
Mason Patrick
.
[15]
In 1951, the Air Force established the
Air Force Missile Test Center
.
[16]
Early American
sub-orbital
rocket flights were achieved at Cape Canaveral in 1956.
[17]
These flights occurred shortly after sub-orbital flights launched from
White Sands Missile Range
, such as the
Viking 12 sounding rocket
on February 4, 1955.
[18]
Following the Soviet Union's successful
Sputnik 1
(launched on October 4, 1957), the United States attempted its first launch of an artificial satellite from Cape Canaveral on December 6, 1957. However, the rocket carrying
Vanguard TV3
exploded on the launch pad.
[19]
NASA
was founded in 1958, and Air Force crews launched missiles for NASA from the Cape, known then as Cape Canaveral Missile Annex.
Redstone
,
Jupiter
,
Pershing 1
,
Pershing 1a
,
Pershing II
,
Polaris
,
Thor
,
Atlas
,
Titan
and
Minuteman
missiles were all tested from the site, the Thor becoming the basis for the
expendable launch vehicle
(ELV)
Delta rocket
, which launched
Telstar 1
in July 1962. The row of Titan (LC-15, 16,
19
, 20) and Atlas (LC-11, 12, 13,
14
) launch pads along the coast came to be known as
Missile Row
in the 1960s.
Project Mercury
[
edit
]
NASA's first crewed spaceflight program was prepared for launch from Canaveral by U.S. Air Force crews. Mercury's objectives were to place a crewed spacecraft into Earth's orbit, investigate human performance and ability to function in space, and safely recover the astronaut and spacecraft.
Suborbital flights
were launched by
derivatives of the Army's Redstone missile
from
LC-5
; two such flights were manned by
Alan Shepard
on May 5, 1961, and
Gus Grissom
on July 21. Orbital flights were launched by
derivatives of the Air Force's larger Atlas D missile
from
LC-14
. The first American in orbit was
John Glenn
on February 20, 1962. Three more orbital flights followed through May 1963.
Flight control
for all Mercury missions was provided at the
Mercury Control Center
located at Canaveral near LC-14.
Name changes
[
edit
]
On November 29, 1963, following the death of President
John F. Kennedy
, his successor
Lyndon B. Johnson
issued
Executive Order 11129
renaming both NASA's
Merritt Island Launch Operations Center
and "the facilities of Station No. 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range" (a reference to the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex) as the "John F. Kennedy Space Center". He had also convinced Governor
C. Farris Bryant
(D-Fla.) to change the name of
Cape Canaveral
to
Cape Kennedy
. This resulted in some confusion in public perception, which
conflated
the two.
NASA Administrator
James E. Webb
clarified this by issuing a directive stating the
Kennedy Space Center
name applied only to Merritt Island, while the Air Force issued a general order renaming the Air Force launch site
Cape Kennedy Air Force Station
.
[20]
This name was used through the
Project Gemini
and early
Apollo program
.
However, the geographical name change proved to be unpopular, owing to the historical longevity of Cape Canaveral (one of the oldest place-names in the United States, dating to the early 1500s). In 1973 and 1974 respectively, both the geographical and the Air Force Station Cape names were reverted to Canaveral after the
Florida legislature
passed a bill changing the name back that was signed into law by Florida governor
Reubin Askew
(D-Fla.).
[21]
[22]
On August 7, 2020, U.S. military contracts referred to the installation as Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
[23]
The installation was formally renamed on 9 December 2020.
[11]
Gemini and early Apollo
[
edit
]
The two-man Gemini spacecraft was launched into orbit by a
derivative
of the
Air Force Titan II missile
. Twelve Gemini flights were launched from
LC-19
, ten of which were crewed. The first crewed flight,
Gemini 3
, took place on March 23, 1965. Later Gemini flights were supported by seven uncrewed launches of the
Agena Target Vehicle
on the
Atlas-Agena
from
LC-14
, to develop
rendezvous
and
docking
, critical for Apollo. Two of the Atlas-Agena vehicles failed to reach orbit on
Gemini 6
and Gemini 9, and a mis-rigging of the nosecone on a third caused it to fail to eject in orbit, preventing docking on
Gemini 9A
. The final flight,
Gemini 12
, launched on November 11, 1966.
The capabilities of the Mercury Control Center were inadequate for the flight control needs of Gemini and Apollo, so NASA built an improved
Mission Control Center
in 1963, which it decided to locate at the newly built
Manned Spacecraft Center
in Houston, Texas, rather than at Canaveral or at the
Goddard Space Flight Center
in Maryland.
[24]
The Apollo program's goal of landing a man on the Moon required development of the
Saturn family
of rockets. The large
Saturn V
rocket necessary to take men to the Moon required a larger launch facility than Cape Canaveral could provide, so NASA built the
Kennedy Space Center
located west and north of Canaveral on Merritt Island. But the earlier
Saturn I
and
IB
could be launched from the Cape's
Launch Complexes 34
and
37
. The first four Saturn I development launches were made from LC-34 between October 27, 1961, and March 28, 1963. These were followed by the final test launch and five operational launches from LC-37 between January 29, 1964, and July 30, 1965.
The Saturn IB uprated the capability of the Saturn I, so that it could be used for Earth orbital tests of the Apollo spacecraft. Two uncrewed test launches of the
Apollo command and service module
(CSM),
AS-201
and
AS-202
, were made from LC-34, and an uncrewed flight (
AS-203
) to test the behavior of upper stage
liquid hydrogen
fuel in orbit from LC-37, between February 26 and August 25, 1966. The first crewed CSM flight, AS-204 or
Apollo 1
, was planned to launch from LC-34 on February 21, 1967, but the entire crew of
Gus Grissom
,
Ed White
and
Roger Chaffee
were killed in a cabin fire during a spacecraft test on pad 34 on January 27, 1967. The AS-204 rocket was used to launch the uncrewed, Earth orbital first test flight of the
Apollo Lunar Module
,
Apollo 5
, from LC-37 on January 22, 1968. After significant safety improvements were made to the Command Module,
Apollo 7
was launched from LC-34 to fulfill Apollo 1's mission, using Saturn IB AS-205 on October 11, 1968.
In 1972, NASA deactivated both LC-34 and LC-37. It briefly considered reactivating both for
Apollo Applications Program
launches after the end of Apollo, but instead modified the Kennedy Space Center launch complex to handle the Saturn IB for the
Skylab
and
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
launches. The LC-34 service structure and umbilical tower were razed, leaving only the concrete launch pedestal as a monument to the Apollo 1 crew. In 2001, LC-37 was recommissioned and converted to service
Delta IV
launch vehicles.
Subsequent activity
[
edit
]
The Air Force chose to expand the capabilities of the Titan launch vehicles for its heavy lift capabilities. The Air Force constructed Launch Complexes
40
and
41
to launch Titan III and Titan IV rockets just south of
Kennedy Space Center
. A Titan III has about the same payload capacity as the
Saturn IB
at a considerable cost savings.
[
citation needed
]
Launch Complex 40 and 41 have been used to launch defense reconnaissance, communications and weather satellites and NASA planetary missions. The Air Force also planned to launch two Air Force crewed space projects from LC 40 and 41. They were the
Dyna-Soar
, a crewed orbital rocket plane (canceled in 1963) and the USAF
Manned Orbital Laboratory
(MOL), a crewed reconnaissance space station (canceled in 1969).
[
citation needed
]
From 1974 to 1977 the powerful Titan-Centaur became the new heavy lift vehicle for NASA, launching the
Viking
and
Voyager
series of spacecraft from Launch Complex 41. Complex 41 later became the launch site for the most powerful uncrewed U.S. rocket, the
Titan IV
, developed by the Air Force.
[
citation needed
]
With increased use of a
leased launch pad
by
private
company
SpaceX
, the Air Force launch support operations at the Cape planned for 21 launches in 2014, a fifty percent increase over the 2013 launch rate. SpaceX had reservations for a total of ten of those launches in 2014, with an option for an eleventh.
[25]
Uncrewed launches at Cape Canaveral
[
edit
]
The first United States satellite launch,
Explorer 1
, was made by the
Army Ballistic Missile Agency
on February 1, 1958 (UTC) from Canaveral's
LC-26A
using a
Juno I RS-29
missile. NASA's first launch,
Pioneer 1
, came on October 11 of the same year from
LC-17A
using a
Thor
-Able rocket.
Besides Project Gemini, the
Atlas-Agena
launch complexes
LC-12
and
LC-13
were used during the 1960s for the uncrewed
Ranger
and
Lunar Orbiter programs
and the first five
Mariner
interplanetary probes. The
Atlas-Centaur
launch complex
LC-36
was used for the 1960s
Surveyor
uncrewed lunar landing program and the last five Mariner probes through 1973.
NASA has also launched communications and weather satellites from Launch Complexes
40
and
41
, built at the north end of the Cape in 1964 by the Air Force for its
Titan IIIC
and
Titan IV
rockets. From 1974 to 1977 the powerful
Titan IIIE
served as the heavy-lift vehicle for NASA, launching the
Viking
and
Voyager
series of planetary spacecraft and the
Cassini?Huygens
Saturn probe from LC-41.
Three Cape Canaveral pads are currently operated by private industry for military and civilian launches:
SLC-41
for the
Atlas V
and
SLC-37B
for the
Delta IV
, both for
United Launch Alliance
heavy payloads; and
SLC-40
for
SpaceX
Falcon 9
.
Boeing X-37B
[
edit
]
The
Boeing X-37B
, a reusable uncrewed spacecraft operated by
USSF
, which is also known as the
Orbital Test Vehicle
(
OTV
), has been successfully launched four times from Cape Canaveral.
[26]
The first four X-37B missions have been launched with
Atlas V
rockets. Past launch dates for the X-37B
spaceplane
include April 22, 2010, March 5, 2011, December 11, 2012, and May 20, 2015. The fourth X-37B mission landed at the
Kennedy Space Center
on May 7, 2017, after 718 days in orbit. The first three X-37B missions all made successful autonomous landings from space to a 15,000 foot (4,600 m) runway located at
Vandenberg Space Force Base
in California which was originally designed for
Space Shuttle
return from orbit operations.
Operations, infrastructure and facilities
[
edit
]
Of the launch complexes built since 1950, several have been leased and modified for use by private aerospace companies. Launch Complex
SLC-17
was used for the
Delta II
Heavy variant, through 2011.
[27]
Launch Complexes
SLC-37
and
SLC-41
were modified to launch
EELV
Delta IV
and
Atlas V
launch vehicles, respectively.
[28]
These launch vehicles replaced all earlier Delta, Atlas, and Titan rockets. Launch Complex
SLC-47
is used to launch weather sounding rockets. Launch Complex
SLC-46
is reserved for use by
Space Florida
.
[29]
SLC-40
hosted the first launch
of the
SpaceX
Falcon 9
in June 2010.
[30]
Falcon 9 launches continued from this complex through 2015, consisting of uncrewed
Commercial Resupply Services
missions for NASA to the
International Space Station
as well as commercial satellite flights. SpaceX has also leased
Launch Complex 39A
from NASA and has completed modifying it to accommodate
Falcon Heavy
and
Commercial Crew crewed spaceflights
to the ISS with their
Crew Dragon
spacecraft in 2019.
[31]
SpaceX
Landing Zone 1
and 2, used to land first stages of the Falcon 9 and the side boosters of the Falcon Heavy, are located at the site of the former
LC-13
.
On September 16, 2015, NASA announced that
Blue Origin
has leased Launch Complex 36 and will modify it as a launch site for their next-generation launch vehicles.
[32]
[
needs update
]
In the case of low-inclination (geostationary) launches the location of the area at 28°27'N put it at a slight disadvantage against other launch facilities situated nearer the equator. The boost eastward from the Earth's rotation is about 406 m/s (908 miles per hour) at Cape Canaveral, but 463 m/s (1,035 miles per hour) at the European
Guiana Space Centre
in French Guiana.
[33]
In the case of high-inclination (polar) launches, the latitude does not matter, but the Cape Canaveral area is not suitable, because inhabited areas underlie these trajectories;
Vandenberg Space Force Base
, Cape Canaveral's
West Coast
counterpart, or the smaller
Pacific Spaceport Complex ? Alaska
(PSCA) are used instead.
The
Air Force Space and Missile Museum
is located at
LC-26
.
[34]
Hangar AE
, located in the CCAFS Industrial Area, collects telemetry from launches all over the United States. NASA's
Launch Services Program
has three Launch Vehicle Data Centers (LVDC) within that display telemetry real-time for engineers.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip
[
edit
]
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip
(
ICAO
:
KXMR
,
FAA
LID
:
XMR
) is a military
airport
at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) northeast of
Cocoa Beach, Florida
. It has an
asphalt
-paved
runway
designated 13/31 and measuring 10,000 by 200 ft (3,048 by 61 m). The facility is owned by the
United States Space Force
(USSF).
This airport is assigned a three-letter
location identifier
of
XMR
by the
Federal Aviation Administration
, but it does not have an
International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code
.
[35]
[36]
The runway was first called the Skid Strip because
SM-62 Snark
cruise missiles (which lacked wheels) returning from test flights were supposed to skid to a halt on it.
[37]
In the 1960s the
Douglas C-133 Cargomaster
was a frequent visitor, carrying modified
Atlas
and
Titan
missiles, used as launch vehicles for crewed and uncrewed space programs leading to the Apollo Moon landings. The Skid Strip was used by
NASA
's
Pregnant Guppy
and
Super Guppy
transport aircraft carrying the
S-IVB
upper stage for the
Saturn IB
and
Saturn V
rockets used in
Apollo program
.
Today, it is predominantly used by USAF
C-130 Hercules
,
C-17 Globemaster III
and
C-5 Galaxy
aircraft transporting satellite payloads to CCSFS for mating with launch vehicles.
The CCSFS Skid Strip is sometimes confused with the NASA
Shuttle Landing Facility
, but that runway, specially constructed for the
Space Shuttle
, is located on Merritt Island at the adjacent
Kennedy Space Center
.
Naval Ordnance Test Unit
[
edit
]
A tenant command located at Cape Canaveral SFS is the
U.S. Navy
's Naval Ordnance Test Unit (NOTU). As a major shore command led by a Navy
captain
, NOTU was created in 1950 and initially directed almost all of its efforts towards the development and subsequent support of the submarine-launched Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) program. This resulted in NOTU being assigned to the Director, Special Projects (now Strategic Systems Programs) with a mission to support the development of the
Polaris missile
and later the
Poseidon missile
programs.
[38]
NOTU's mission is the support and testing of sea-based weapons systems for the
United States Navy
and the
Royal Navy
in a safe environment utilizing the airspace and waterspace of the Eastern Range. The command directly supports the mission capability and readiness of the United States Navy's Trident Submarines as well as the Fleet Ballistic Missile program of the United Kingdom. NOTU operates the Navy Port at Port Canaveral, supporting submarines and surface ships of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, NATO, Allied and other foreign navies, and assets of the
Military Sealift Command
. NOTU is composed of over 100 active duty U.S. Navy personnel and over 70 defense contractors.
[38]
[39]
Notable Launch Complexes
[
edit
]
Listed below in this article are less notable launch complexes at the Cape. For a complete list of all launch complexes, see the below table.
|
---|
|
Launch sites
| Active
| |
---|
Inactive
| |
---|
Under construction
| |
---|
|
---|
Landing sites
| |
---|
Related
| |
---|
LC-1
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 1 (LC-1)
is located on the eastern tip of Cape Canaveral. It was constructed in the early 1950s for the
Snark missile program
.
[40]
The first launch from this site was conducted on January 13, 1955. The complex was used for Snark missions until 1960, and then was utilized as a
helicopter pad
during
Project Mercury
. The final use of the site was from 1983 to 1989 for
tethered aerostat balloon radar
missions.
[
citation needed
]
It is now deactivated.
LC-2
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2)
is a deactivated launch site on the eastern tip of Cape Canaveral. It was constructed with launch complexes 1, 3, and 4, in the early 1950s, for the
Snark missile program
.
The first launch from this site was a Snark test conducted on February 18, 1954. The complex was used for Snark missions until 1960, and then was utilized as a
helicopter pad
during
Project Mercury
. The final use of the site was during the 1980s for
tethered aerostat balloon radar
missions.
[
citation needed
]
LC-3
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 3 (LC-3)
is a deactivated launch site southeast of
SLC-36
at Cape Canaveral. It was constructed, with launch complexes 1, 2, and 4, in the early 1950s for the
Snark missile program
.
[40]
It was formerly used to launch
Bumper
,
BOMARC
,
UGM-27 Polaris
, and
Lockheed X-17
missiles. The pad was also the site of the first launch from
Cape Canaveral
, a
Bumper
rocket on July 24, 1950. The site also served as a medical support facility during
Project Mercury
.
[
citation needed
]
In 2023, after weeks of searching, students from the
University of Central Florida
, working with archaeologists, discovered the site of the original blockhouse supporting the first Bumper launch just north of the pad at LC-3, including the slab foundation and some of the surrounding
Marston mat
, all long-buried under heavy scrub.
[41]
LC-4
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 4 (LC-4)
was one of the first launch complexes to be built at Cape Canaveral. It consisted of two pads: LC-4, which was used for 25 launches of
Bomarc
,
Matador
and
Redstone
missiles between 1952 and 1960; and LC-4A, which was used for three Bomarc launches between 1958 and 1959.
Following its deactivation in 1960, the original structures at the complex were dismantled. New facilities were built at the site in the 1980s, and it was used for
TARS
aerostat operations between 1983 and 1989.
[42]
Following this, the aerostat launch facilities were also removed, and the complex is currently not accessible to the public.
Date/Time (
UTC
)
|
Missile type
|
Mission
|
Notes
|
Date/Time
|
Missile type
|
Mission
|
Notes
|
10 September
1952
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 621?1
|
Failed
|
7 August 1958
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624-XY1
|
|
20 August 1953
14:37
[43]
|
Redstone
|
Redstone RS-1
|
Failed
|
24 September
1958
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624-XY4
|
|
27 January 1954
15:20
|
Redstone
|
Redstone RS-2
|
|
21 October 1958
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624-XY6
|
|
5 May 1954
17:28
|
Redstone
|
Redstone RS-3
|
Failed
|
21 November
1958
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624-XY7
|
|
18 August 1954
14:04
|
Redstone
|
Redstone RS-4
|
Failed
|
13 December
1958
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624-XY8
|
|
17 November
1954 18:12
|
Redstone
|
Redstone RS-6
|
Failed
|
27 January 1959
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624-XY16
|
|
9 February 1955
20:15
|
Redstone
|
Redstone RS-8
|
Failed
|
21 April 1959
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624-XY15
|
|
6 May 1955
|
Matador
|
Matador GM-52-1895
|
|
27 Mai 1959
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 631?1
|
|
2 February
1956
[44]
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 623?13
|
|
2 September
1959
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 631?4
|
|
21 Mai 1956
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 623?16
|
Failed
|
28 October 1959
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 631?5
|
|
17 April 1957
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624?1
|
|
29 January 1960
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 631?6
|
|
22 July 1957
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624?7
|
|
15 April 1960
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 631?8
|
|
1 May 1958
|
Bomarc
|
Bomarc 624?19
|
|
|
|
|
|
LC-9
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 9 (LC-9)
is a small concrete structure consisting of an elevated launch pedestal and flame trench, centered on a small oval-shaped concrete pad.. It is north of Launch Complex 17.
It was used for ten test launches of
SM-64 Navaho
supersonic
nuclear-armed
cruise missiles
. In addition to LC-9, Navaho tests were also conducted at
LC-10
and
Edwards Air Force Base
. The Navaho was cancelled after poor performance in testing: eight of the eleven test launches of the final prototype failed. All of the failed launches were conducted from LC-9.
As of 2023
[update]
, the concrete launch structure is still standing, but is not maintained; and the launch support equipment has been removed. The site is not accessible to the general public.
LC-10
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 10 (LC-10)
was used for one
SM-64 Navaho
missile launch, and later
Jason
sounding rockets
and the
Alpha Draco
research missile. It was located north of
Launch Complex 17
, where
Launch Complexes 31
and
32
are now located.
A single Navaho missile was test-launched from LC-10, on 12 August 1957,
[45]
and was one of only three Navahos to complete a successful flight. Following the cancellation of the Navaho, LC-10 was reused for launches of Jason and Draco sounding rockets during 1958 and 1959. The last launch to use the site was of a Draco on 27 April 1959.
LC-10 was subsequently demolished during the construction of Launch Complexes 31 and 32, which were built on the same site.
LC-15
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 15 (LC-15)
was used by
LGM-25 Titan
missiles between 1959 and 1964. It was originally built for conducting test flights of the
Titan I
, which made its maiden flight from LC-15 on 6 February 1959. LC-15 is the southernmost of the four original Titan launch complexes on Missile Row.
The last of ten Titan I launches from LC-15 occurred in September 1960. Following this, it was converted for use by the
Titan II
, which made the first of 16 flights from the complex in June 1962. The last launch from LC-15 occurred on 9 April 1964.
Following the last launch, LC-15 remained active until its retirement from service. Much of the complex, including the tower, launch stand and erector was demolished in June 1967. The blockhouse, cable tunnel, and parts of the launch table and ramp were abandoned in place, and were all still standing until the demolition of the blockhouse in 2011.
On March 7, 2023, the Space Force allocated the complex, which was renamed SLC-15, to
ABL Space Systems
. ABL plans to build a launch installation for their RS1 small class launch vehicle.
LC-16
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 16 (LC-16)
was built for use by
LGM-25 Titan
missiles, and was later used for
NASA
operations before being transferred back to the
US military
and used for tests of
MGM-31 Pershing
missiles. Six
Titan I
missiles were launched from the complex between December 1959 and May 1960. These were followed by seven
Titan II
missiles, starting with the type's maiden flight on March 16, 1962. The last Titan II launch from LC-16 was conducted on May 29, 1963.
Following the end of its involvement with the Titan missile, LC-16 was transferred to NASA, which used it for
Gemini
crew processing, and
static firing
tests of the
Apollo Service Module
's propulsion engine. Following its return to the US Air Force in 1972, it was converted for use by the Pershing missile, which made its first flight from the complex on May 7, 1974. Seventy-nine
Pershing 1a
and 49
Pershing II
missiles were launched from LC-16. The last Pershing launch from the facility was conducted on March 21, 1988. It was deactivated the next day and subsequently decommissioned under the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
.
It was announced on January 17, 2019, that
Relativity Space
had entered a 5-year agreement to use LC-16 for its
Terran 1
orbital launch vehicle and eventually its
Terran R
.
[46]
[47]
The maiden flight of the
Terran 1
launch vehicle took place on 23 March 2023 and resulted in a failure.
[48]
The maiden flight of Terran 1 was the first orbital launch attempt from Launch Complex 16 (141 suborbital launches before the Terran 1).
[49]
LC-25
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 25 (LC-25)
was a four-pad site built for test flights of the
US Navy
's
submarine
-launched
ballistic missiles
Polaris, Poseidon and Trident
[50]
It was active from 1958 to 1979.
Pads 25A and 25B were built in 1957. Pad 25B was initially built with an underground launch mechanism known as a ship motion simulator to simulate the roll and pitch of a submarine. It was first used August 14, 1959 and was mothballed in October 1961.
[50]
Pads 25C and 25D were added in May 1968 for the larger Poseidon. One blockhouse served all four pads; it was extensively reinforced when the Poseidon pads were added.
The complex was dismantled in 1979.
In November 2012, ground was broken for a new $185-million Navy missile test facility to be built over the underground structures at LC-25 and LC-29 called the Strategic Weapon System Ashore. The facility will allow the testing of fire control, launch systems and navigation for submarine-fired missiles to be conducted at one facility instead of being done by contractors in different locations around the country.
[51]
Launch History
[
edit
]
- Polaris FTV: 19 launches (April 18, 1958 ? October 2, 1959)
- Polaris A-1: 16 launches (March 9, 1960 ? December 5, 1961)
- Polaris A-2: 14 launches (November 10, 1960 ? March 5, 1965)
- Polaris A-3: 11 launches (February 11, 1963 ? July 3, 1964)
- Poseidon: 16 launches (August 16, 1968 ? June 29, 1970)
- Trident I: 18 launches (January 18, 1977 ? January 22, 1979
LC-26
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 26
(
LC-26
) consisted of two pads,
A
and
B
. Pad A was used for the
Jupiter-C
and
Juno I
rockets, and was the launch site for
Explorer 1
, the
United States
' first satellite, on February 1, 1958 (January 31 local time). Pad B was used for
Juno II
.
Jupiter IRBMs
were launched from both pads.
It was deacticated and is now the home of the
Air Force Space and Missile Museum
.
LC-29
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 29
(LC-29) was a one-pad launch site at Cape Canaveral built for test flights of the
US Navy
's
submarine
-launched Polaris
ballistic missiles
from 1958 to 1980. It also launched Chevaline missiles, which were British Polaris A-3 missiles.
[52]
The complex was designed to contain two launch pads, 29A and 29B, but only 29A was built. The launch complex was dismantled in 1980.
In November 2012, ground was broken for a new $185-million Navy missile test facility to be built over the underground structures at LC-25 and LC-29 called the Strategic Weapons System Ashore. The facility will allow the testing of fire control, launch systems and navigation for submarine-fired missiles to be conducted at one facility instead of being done by contractors in different locations around the country.
[51]
Launch History
[
edit
]
- Polaris A1X: 14 launches (21 September 1959 ? 29 April 1960)
[52]
- Polaris A-2: 15 launches (10 January 1961 ? 12 November 1965)
[52]
- Polaris A-3: 18 launches (7 August 1962 ? 1 November 1967)
[52]
- Polaris A-3 Antelope: 3 launches (17 November 1966 ? 2 March 1967)
[52]
- British Chevaline launches: (11 September 1977 ? 19 May 1980)
[52]
LC-43
[
edit
]
Launch Complex 43
(LC-43) was used by American
sounding rockets
between 1962 and 1984, supporting 2,038 launches. These launches were moved to moved to
LC-47
in 1984, and LC-43 was demolished to make way for
Launch Complex 46
, which was built near the site.
SLC-20
[
edit
]
Space Launch Complex 20
(SLC-20), previously designated Launch Complex 20 (LC-20), is located at the northern terminus of ICBM Road, between
Space Launch Complex 19
and
Space Launch Complex 34
.
History
[
edit
]
The facility was constructed by the
United States Air Force
in the late 1950s for the
Titan I
Missile Program, modified in 1964 for the
Titan III
Program, and further modified in the late 1980s for the Starbird launch vehicles
[53]
associated with the shuttle Starlab mission.
[54]
Several Titan I rockets and four or five Titan III rockets were launched from SLC-20. SLC-20 was deactivated in 1996.
[55]
In 1999, the site was re-activated to support new launch facilities under the direction of
Space Florida
for commercial launches. The re-activation included upgrades to Launch Pad A and the construction of a new building along the perimeter road, northeast of the blockhouse.
[56]
In 2006, the site was being used by
NASA
's Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a research and development project to provide infrastructure to test, demonstrate and qualify new spaceport technologies. The site was shared with the Florida Air National Guard.
[57]
In February 2019, Space Florida leased the site to
Firefly Aerospace
so that Firefly could launch small-lift launch vehicles from the Florida
Space Coast
launch location on easterly launch azimuths. Firefly plans to develop both manufacturing facilities at a nearby Space Florida business park as well as the launch site. Firefly has a similar lease arrangement, this one from the
US government
, on the US
West Coast
at
Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 2
for a launch facility that has overwater launch azimuths for high-inclination and
polar orbital
trajectories.
[58]
[59]
Based units
[
edit
]
Units marked GSU are Air Force Geographically Separate Units which, although based at Cape Canaveral SFS, are subordinate to Space Launch Delta 45 headquarters at
Patrick SFB
.
[60]
[61]
United States Space Force
[
edit
]
Space Operations Command
(SpOC)
United States Navy
[
edit
]
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (shown in green)
-
Cape Canaveral as seen from orbit by a
Space Shuttle
in 1991
-
-
Looking north along Missile Row in the 1960s
-
Titan III-E launching
Voyager 2
probe in 1977 from SLC-41
-
First
Delta IV Heavy
booster launching from SLC-37 in 2007
-
Launch of a set of
Orbcomm
communications satellites atop a
Falcon 9
rocket from SLC-40 in 2015
-
SLC-40 during launch of
SpaceX CRS-13
in December 2017, after repair and upgrade works to the pad between 2016?2017
-
Mission Control Center used for Mercury Program and Gemini III
-
The sign located at the entrance to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (then known as Cape Canaveral Air Force Station)
-
An aerial view of SLC-41 with its crew access tower and arm prior to the first launch of
Vulcan Centaur
carrying
Peregrine Mission One
.
-
SLC-40 during launch of
Cygnus NG-20
in January 2024, after Crew Access Tower and Arm installation
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"National Register Information System ? (#84003872)"
.
National Register of Historic Places
.
National Park Service
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- ^
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(PDF)
.
Federal Aviation Administration
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(PDF)
on September 19, 2019
. Retrieved
September 14,
2019
.
- ^
"Cape Canaveral Air Force Station"
.
Florida Heritage Tourism Interactive Catalog
. Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs. September 23, 2007. Archived from
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on December 14, 2007.
- ^
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Archived
January 13, 2009, at the
Wayback Machine
at
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.
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- ^
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2008
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
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)
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2018
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Lethbridge, Cliff.
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2023
.
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(PDF)
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. Retrieved
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2023
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- ^
Historic American Engineering Record
(HAER) No. FL-8-5, "
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"
- ^
a
b
Joy, Rachael (December 9, 2020).
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.
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- ^
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.
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- ^
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.
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2022
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CAST 1999, p. 1-5.
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The New York Times
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ProQuest
114053516
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Benson, Charles D.; Faherty, William B. (August 1977).
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.
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. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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2012
.
- ^
"GNIS Detail ? Cape Canaveral"
.
geonames.usgs.gov
. Retrieved
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2018
.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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.
- ^
"Contracts for August 7, 2020"
.
U.S. Department of Defense
. Retrieved
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2020
.
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public domain
.
- ^
Dethloff, Henry C.
(1993).
"Chapter 5: Gemini: On Managing Spaceflight"
.
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. NASA. pp. 85?86.
ISBN
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.
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public domain
.
- ^
Klotz, Irene (January 15, 2014).
"SpaceX Drives Sharp Increase in Projected Launches at Cape"
. SpaceNews. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"Fact Sheet Display"
.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
CAST 1999, p. 1-26.
- ^
CAST 1999, p. 1-31.
- ^
CAST 1999, p. 1-35.
- ^
SpaceX Corp (October 23, 2009).
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. SpaceX. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Bergin, Chris (February 18, 2015).
"Falcon Heavy into production as Pad 39A HIF rises out of the ground"
.
NASASpaceFlight
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Kenneth Chang (September 16, 2015).
"Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' Rocket Company, to Launch from Florida"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"Up, Up, and Away"
.
The Universe: In the Classroom
. Astro Society. Archived from
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on August 8, 2011
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
CAST 1999, pp. 1?29 to 1?30.
- ^
"Airline and Airport Code Search"
.
International Air Transport Association
(IATA)
. Retrieved
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2016
.
- ^
"Cape Canaveral AFS Skid Strip (IATA: none, ICAO: KXMR, FAA: XMR)"
. Great Circle Mapper
. Retrieved
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2016
.
- ^
Lethbridge, Clifford (1998).
"Snark Fact Sheet"
.
Spaceline
. Retrieved
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2012
.
- ^
a
b
"NOTU Cape Canaveral"
.
www.navymwrcapecanaveral.com
. US Navy.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain
.
- ^
Vazquez, Tyler.
"Cape Canaveral's NOTU gets homegrown commander"
.
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.
- ^
a
b
Svirskas, Rob (September 14, 2008).
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.
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. Retrieved
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2010
.
- ^
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.
www.floridatoday.com
. Retrieved
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2023
.
- ^
Tethered Aerostat Radar System
- ^
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.
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. Archived from
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on June 4, 2020
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
afspacemuseum.org
. Archived from
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.
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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- ^
a
b
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.
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
at Wikimedia Commons
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Leadership
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Structure
| Field commands
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Component Field Commands
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Deltas
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Squadrons
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Direct reporting units
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Locations
| Space Force Bases
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Space Bases
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Space Force Stations
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Personnel
and training
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History and
traditions
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Active
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Europe
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North America
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- United States government:
USSF
- NASA
- United
States
academic launches
- United States private launches
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Oceania
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South America
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International waters
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Air Forces
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Centers
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Bases
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Stations
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Space wings
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Air Base groups
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- 61st
- 821st Air Base Group
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Squadrons
| Command and Control
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Space Control
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Space Launch
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Space Operations
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Space Warning
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Under construction
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Primary 10 centers
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Reliever
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Public use
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