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Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 30 rect 443 1617 521 1645 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station#LC-25 circle 432 1535 10 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station#LC-25 rect 417 1656 493 1683 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station#LC-29 circle 422 1557 10 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station#LC-29 rect 134 1156 272 1181 #Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip poly 402 1189 600 1336 586 1352 391 1199 #Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip 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. Launch Complexes
SLC-37 and
SLC-41 were modified to launch
EELV Delta IV and
Atlas V launch vehicles, respectively. 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.
SLC-40 hosted the first launch of the
SpaceX Falcon 9 in June 2010. 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. On September 30th, 2024, SpaceX launched the
first crewed flight from SLC-40. 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. 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. 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 at Cape Canaveral, but at the European
Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. 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
Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum is located at
LC-26.
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 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip is a military airport at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), northeast of
Cocoa Beach, Florida. It has an
asphalt-paved
runway designated 13/31 and measuring . 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
IATA airport code. 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. 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 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 of
Special Projects (now Strategic Systems Programs) with a mission to support the development of the
Polaris missile and later the
Poseidon missile programs. 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.
Notable Launch Complexes 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.
LC-1 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. 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. It is now deactivated.
LC-2 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.
LC-3 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.
LC-4 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. Following this, the aerostat launch facilities were also removed, and the complex is currently not accessible to the public.
LC-9 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 canceled 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. , 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 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 August 12, 1957, 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 April 27, 1959. LC-10 was subsequently demolished during the construction of Launch Complexes 31 and 32, which were built on the same site.
LC-23/24 Launch Complex 23/24 (LC-23/24) was located along the southeast side of Lighthouse Road southwest of Launch Complexes 1 and 2. The designation was first assigned to a testing pad for a sea-based version of the Army’s
PGM-19 Jupiter missile. Later, the designation was reused for a
SSM-N-2 Triton surface-to-surface winged missile testing site, and planned to contain two launch pads and a blockhouse. Due to its cancellation, only one pad was built, and used for engine run up tests of the
SM-62 Snark missile, with no actual launches.
LC-25 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. 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.
Launch history • 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 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 deactivated and is now the home of the
Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum.
LC-29 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. 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. On the 29th of August 1968, the deactivated site witnessed a crash of a
B-52 bomber following an in-flight emergency. The complex was destroyed during construction of the Trident Turn Basin.
Proposed launch complexes Many other numbered launch complexes were proposed but never built, with their numbers being skipped in the sequence. Those included a pair of two-pad complexes between Launch Complex 23/24 and Camera Road Bravo with a single blockhouse for all four pads (LC-7/8), a pair of two-pad launch complexes for
SM-64 Navaho (LC-27 along the north side of Lighthouse Road and LC-35 on the right side of South Patrol Road), another pad on the north of the
Missile Row near present day Launch Complex 34 (LC-28), a
Titan/
DynaSoar pad near present day Launch Complex 37 (LC-33), a new
Atlas launch complex with an undetailed location (LC-38), and a third Titan III launch pad in the
ITL complex (LC-42). == Based units ==