List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites
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 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.
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
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
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. satellite |
Launch Complex 29 |
Inactive |
Polaris[1] |
Launch Complex 30 |
Inactive |
Pershing |
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 |
Launch Complex 37A |
Inactive |
Saturn I, Saturn IB (unused) |
Launch Complex 43 |
Demolished |
Super Loki |
Launch Complex 45 |
Inactive |
Roland (unused) |
Spaceport Florida
Main article:
Space Florida
As 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.[2] It is not known if the plan was subsequently implemented.
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 |
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
External links
Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites
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