In addition to military launches, LC-13 also hosted NASA’s Mariner 3 launch to Mars, the Lunar Orbiter launches, and the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory 5 (OGO-5) mission. Atlas-Agena launches from the pad began with a pair of Vela satellites in October 1963. Like LC-12, it was adapted for the Atlas-Agena rocket, although its mobile service tower was also torn down and rebuilt, providing better payload processing facilities – particularly for military satellites. Launch Complex 13 was used exclusively for missile testing until February 1962. The last of 37 launches from LC-12 – not including the Atlas-Able accident – took place on 5 November 1967, with an Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D carrying Applications Technology Satellite 3 (ATS-3) to geostationary transfer orbit. Two suborbital Atlas-D launches were also made during this time under NASA’s Flight Investigation Reentry Environment (FIRE) project, aimed at testing materials to protect spacecraft as they re-enter the atmosphere. These launched the nine Ranger probes to the Moon, along with the Mariner 1, 2, and 5 missions to Venus, Mariner 4 to Mars, and a series of scientific and technology demonstration missions in Earth orbit. Missile tests from LC-12 continued alongside the Atlas-Able launches until 1961, after which the pad was turned over to NASA missions with the Atlas-Agena rocket. However, none of these launches succeeded in reaching orbit. Three Atlas-Able rockets were subsequently launched with Atlas-D boosters, one from LC-14 while LC-12 was undergoing repairs and the other two from LC-12 itself. This first launch, with an Atlas-C booster, was never conducted as the vehicle caught fire and exploded during a pre-launch static fire test. Launch Complex 12 was to have hosted the first flight of the Atlas-Able rocket, which paired the Atlas booster with the upper stages of the Vanguard rocket. The pad was deactivated after its final ABRES launch in 1964, having supported 33 launches. This would be the only orbital launch from LC-11, although the pad would continue to support missile development – both directly through development launches of the later Atlas models, and indirectly through a series of Advanced Ballistic Reentry Systems (ABRES) flights using Atlas-F rockets. Launch Complex 11 was used for the first orbital Atlas launch, with an Atlas-B vehicle orbiting Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment (SCORE), the first experimental communications satellite, in December 1958. All four pads would be used in support of the missile testing program, but each would also see at least one orbital launch.Īn Atlas-B launch vehicle at LC-11 prior to launching the SCORE satellite in December 1958. Further iterations of the missile would be introduced over the next few years including the prototype Atlas-C and the operational Atlas-D, E, and F versions. This was the first version of Atlas to incorporate the stage-and-a-half approach with a sustainer engine and separable booster unit which would become one of the hallmarks of the Atlas family. Over the next twelve months, eight Atlas-A rockets flew from LC-14 and LC-12, before the Atlas-B was introduced in July 1958 from LC-11. The Atlas made its first flight on 11 June 1957, lifting off from Launch Complex 14, the northernmost of the four launch pads. This does not mean, however, that they have no role in the future of America’s space program. ![]() While two of the Titan launch pads at the north end of Missile Row might be coming back to life, there are currently no plans for the Atlas pads on the southern part of the row – at least, not those that were used historically for missile testing – to support future launches. It has announced plans for a larger rocket – Beta – and a reusable winged launcher, Gamma. Like Relativity, Firefly has ambitions to expand its launcher fleet. A return-to-flight mission from Vandenberg is currently expected around May, with the first launch from Cape Canaveral due before the end of the year.Īlpha will be able to deploy a payload of approximately 1,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit. Firefly’s Alpha rocket made its debut from Vandenberg last year but failed to reach orbit. The company also operates Space Launch Complex 2W (SLC-2W) at Vandenberg Space Force Base for high-inclination launches. Firefly Aerospace secured the lease to SLC-20 in 2019, with plans to use the site to enable low and medium-inclination launches including lunar missions.
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