- List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites
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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.
Contents
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 11 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 Inactive Prior: Saturn V, Space Shuttle Launch Complex 39B Inactive Prior: Saturn V, Saturn IB (Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz), Space Shuttle 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 40 Active Falcon 9, Titan III, Titan IV Space Launch Complex 41 Active Atlas V, Titan III, Titan IV Space Launch Complex 37B Active Delta IV, 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 13 Inactive Atlas, Atlas Agena Launch Complex 14 Inactive Atlas, Mercury/Atlas D, Atlas Agena.
The site of all four manned Mercury/Atlas launches.Launch Complex 15 Inactive Titan I, Titan II Launch Complex 16 Inactive Titan I, Titan II, Pershing Launch Complex 17A Inactive Thor, Delta II Space 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. satelliteLaunch Complex 29 Inactive Polaris[citation needed] Launch Complex 30 Inactive Pershing[citation needed] Launch Complex 31 Inactive Minuteman, Pershing.
Used as a burial vault for the Space Shuttle ChallengerLaunch Complex 32 Inactive Minuteman Launch Complex 34 Inactive Saturn I, Saturn IB.
Site of Apollo 1 fireLaunch Complex 37A Inactive Saturn I, Saturn IB (unused) Launch Complex 43 Demolished Super Loki Launch Complex 45 Inactive Roland (unused)[citation needed] Spaceport Florida
Main article: Space FloridaAs of 2008[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.[1] It is not known if the plan was subsequently implemented.[dated info]
Site Status Uses Space Launch Complex 36A Currently Inactive Atlas/Centaur,[1] Atlas II[citation needed] Space Launch Complex 36B Currently Inactive Atlas, Atlas II, Atlas III Space Launch Complex 46 Pending Reactivation[citation needed] Athena (previous and future[citation needed]), Trident II[citation needed] Other
Site Status Uses Atlantic Missle 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
- ^ a b 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.
External links
Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites Atlantic Missile Range drop zone • Grand Turk Island drop zone • Mobile Launch Area • SLBM Launch Area • Patrick AFB • Shuttle Landing Facility • Cape Canaveral AFS Skid StripCategories:- Kennedy Space Center
- Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
- Rocket launch sites
- Spaceports
- Merritt Island, Florida
- Technology-related lists
- Space Shuttle program
- Florida-related lists
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