Map of launch complexes on Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral
Looking east at LC-36, 40 and 41 on CCAFS in 2005
Cape Canaveral and adjacent Merritt Island on Florida's Atlantic coast are home to two American spaceports, one civilian and one military, servicing several active launch sites.
John F. Kennedy Space Center[]
The civilian John F. Kennedy Space Center, operated by NASA, has one launch complex with two pads on Merritt Island. From 1968–1975, it was the site of 13 Saturn V launches, three manned Skylab flights and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project; all Space Shuttle flights from 1981-2011, and 1 Ares 1-X flight in 2009.
| Site | Status | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Launch Complex 39A | NASA is in contract negotiation for lease to SpaceX; SpaceX is in pad redesign process[1][2] |
Prior: Saturn V, Space Shuttle Future: crewed Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy |
| Launch Complex 39B | Inactive | Prior: Saturn V, Saturn IB (Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz), Space Shuttle Future: Space Launch System |
[]
The military Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), operated by the 45th Space Wing of the U.S. Air Force, was the site of all pre-Apollo 8 manned launches, as well as many other early Department of Defense (DoD) and NASA launches. For the DoD, it plays a secondary role to Vandenberg AFB in California, but is the launch site for many NASA unmanned space probes, as those spacecraft are typically launched on Air Force launchers. Active launch vehicles are in bold.
Much of the support activity for CCAFS occurs at Patrick Air Force Base to the south, its reporting base.
Active sites[]
| Site | Status | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Space Launch Complex 13 | Pending | Current: SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy first stage landing site[3] Formerly: Atlas, Atlas Agena |
| Space Launch Complex 40 | Active | Current: Falcon 9 cargo and satellite missions Formerly: Titan III, Titan IV |
| Space Launch Complex 41 | Active | Current: Atlas V Formerly: Titan III, Titan IV |
| Space Launch Complex 37B | Active | Current: Delta IV Formerly: Saturn I, Saturn IB |
Inactive sites[]
| Site | Status | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Launch Complex 1 | Inactive | Snark, Matador, Aerostat |
| Launch Complex 2 | Inactive | Snark, Matador, Aerostat |
| Launch Complex 3 | Inactive | Bumper-WAC, BOMARC, Polaris, X-17 |
| Launch Complex 4 | Inactive | BOMARC, Redstone, Matador, Jason, Draco |
| Launch Complex 4A | Inactive | BOMARC |
| Launch Complex 5 | Inactive | Jupiter, Redstone, Mercury/Redstone. The site of all six manned and unmanned Mercury/Redstone launches. |
| Launch Complex 6 | Inactive | Redstone, Jupiter |
| Launch Complex 9 | Inactive | Navaho |
| Launch Complex 10 | Inactive | Jason, Draco, Nike Tomahawk |
| Launch Complex 11 | Inactive | Atlas |
| Launch Complex 12 | Inactive | Atlas, Atlas Agena |
| Launch Complex 14 | Inactive | Atlas, Mercury/Atlas D, Atlas Agena
|
| Launch Complex 15 | Inactive | Titan I, Titan II |
| Launch Complex 16 | Inactive | Titan I, Titan II, Pershing |
| Launch Complex 17A | Inactive | Thor, Delta II |
| Launch Complex 17B | Inactive | Delta II, Delta III, Thor |
| Launch Complex 18 | Inactive | Viking, Vanguard, Thor, Blue Scout Junior, Blue Scout |
| Launch Complex 19 | Inactive | Titan I, Gemini/Titan II. The site of all ten manned Gemini/Titan II launches. |
| Launch Complex 20 | Inactive | Titan I, Titan III, Starbird, Prospector, Aries, LCLV, Super Loki |
| Launch Complex 21 | Inactive | Goose, Mace |
| Launch Complex 22 | Inactive | Goose, Mace |
| Launch Complex 25 | Inactive | Polaris, X-17, Poseidon, Trident I |
| Launch Complex 26 | Inactive | Jupiter, Redstone Launch site of Explorer 1 - the first successful U.S. satellite |
| Launch Complex 29 | Inactive | Polaris[4] |
| Launch Complex 30 | Inactive | Pershing[citation needed] |
| Launch Complex 31 | Inactive | Minuteman, Pershing. Used as a burial vault for the Space Shuttle Challenger |
| Launch Complex 32 | Inactive | Minuteman |
| Launch Complex 34 | Inactive | Saturn I, Saturn IB. Site of Apollo 1 fire & Apollo 7 launch |
| Launch Complex 37A | Inactive | Saturn I, Saturn IB (unused) |
| Launch Complex 43 | Demolished | Super Loki |
| Launch Complex 45 | Inactive | Roland (unused)[citation needed] |
Spaceport Florida[]
As of 2015[update], the U.S. Air Force committed to lease Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 36 to Space Florida for future use by the Athena III launch system.[5] It is not known if the plan was subsequently implemented.[dated info]
| Site | Status | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Space Launch Complex 36A | Currently Inactive | Atlas/Centaur,[5] Atlas II[citation needed] |
| Space Launch Complex 36B | Currently Inactive | Atlas, Atlas II, Atlas III |
| Space Launch Complex 46 | Pending Reactivation[6] | Athena (previous[citation needed] and future[6]), Trident II[citation needed] |
Other[]
| Site | Status | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Missile Range drop zone | Inactive | High Virgo, Bold Orion, Hound Dog, Skybolt |
| Grand Turk Island drop zone | Inactive | |
| Mobile Launch Area | Inactive | Lark, Matador, MX-775, Snark[citation needed] |
| SLBM Launch Area | Inactive | Polaris, Poseidon, Trident |
| Shuttle Landing Facility | Active | Pegasus |
| Cape Canaveral AFS Skid Strip | Active | Navaho, Pegasus, Pegasus XL |
| Patrick AFB | Inactive | Matador |
References[]
- ↑ "SpaceX to bid for rights to historic NASA launch pad". 2013-12-13. http://phys.org/news/2013-12-spacex-rights-historic-nasa-pad.html. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
- ↑ Boyle, Alan (2013-12-13). "SpaceX wins NASA's nod to take over historic Launch Pad 39A". http://www.nbcnews.com/science/spacex-wins-nasas-nod-take-over-historic-launch-pad-39a-2D11741834. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
- ↑ Gruss, Mike. "SpaceX Leases Florida Launch Pad for Falcon Landings". http://spacenews.com/spacex-leases-cape-canaveral-launch-pad-for-falcon-landings/. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ↑ "Launch Complex 29". Air Force Space & Missile Museum. http://www.afspacemuseum.org/CCAFS/CX29/. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Craig Covault (Oct 27, 2008). "Boeing Joins Commercial Athena III Program". http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/ATHENA10278.xml&headline=Boeing%20Joins%20Commercial%20Athena%20III%20Program&channel=space. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Messier, Doug (11 February 2014). "ATK to Upgrade Space Florida's Launch Complex 46". Parabolic Arc. http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/02/11/atk-upgrade-space-floridas-launch-complex-46/. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
External links[]
The original article can be found at List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites and the edit history here.