LC-13 was originally used for test launches of the SM-65 Atlas and subsequently for operational Atlas launches from 1958 to 1978.[3] It was the most-used and longest-serving of the original four Atlas pads.[note 1] It was inactive between 1980 and 2015.
LC-13 was on land owned by the US government and was originally controlled by the United States Air Force. It was transferred to NASA in 1964 and back to the Air Force in 1970. In January 2015, the land and remaining facilities at LC-13 were leased to SpaceX for a five-year lease.[4]
History
Together with Launch Complexes 11, 12 and 14, LC-13 featured a more robust design than many contemporary pads due to the greater power of the Atlas compared to other rockets of the time. It was larger and featured a concrete launch pedestal that was 6 metres (20ft) tall and a reinforced blockhouse. The rockets were delivered to the launch pad by a ramp on the south side of the launch pedestal.[5]
SM-65 Atlas (1956–1961)
Starting in 1958, Atlas B, D, E and F missiles were tested from the complex.
One on-pad explosion occurred, the launch of Missile 51D in March 1960, which suffered combustion instability within seconds of launch. The Atlas fell back onto LC-13 in a huge fireball, putting the pad out of commission for the entire spring and summer of 1960.
Prior to the launch of Atlas 51D, the separate turbine exhaust ducts had been removed from the four Atlas pads at CCAS. A few weeks later, another Atlas exploded on LC-11 and it was then decided to reinstall the exhaust ducts, although it was considered unlikely that they had anything to do with the failures.
The next launch hosted from LC-13 was the first Atlas E test on October 11, exactly seven months after the accident with Missile 51D. Afterwards, LC-13 remained the primary East Coast testing site for Atlas E missiles, with Atlas F tests mainly running from LC-11 (Missile 2F in August 1961 was the only F-series Atlas launched from LC-13).
Atlas-Agena (1962–1978)
Demolition of mobile service tower in August 2005.
Between February 1962 and October 1963 the pad was converted for use by Atlas-Agena. The modifications were more extensive than the conversions of LC-12 and LC-14 with the mobile service tower being demolished and replaced with a new, larger tower. The first launch from the renovated pad was Vela 1 on October 17, 1963.
Significant launches included:
Lunar Orbiter 1 on 10 August 1966. It photographed proposed landing sites for Apollo and Surveyor spacecraft on the Moon, and returned the first pictures of the Earth from lunar orbit.[6]
On 10 February 2015, the Air Force announced that SpaceX signed a five-year lease for LC-13 to be used as a landing site for the first stage of their reusable launch vehicle, the Falcon 9.[3][10] Over the next several months, the area east of the old launch architecture such as the mobile service tower track was torn up and transformed into a circular landing pad 195 m (640 ft) diameter named Landing Zone 1. Initially, the company planned to convert the facility into a set of five discrete landing zones, one large primary pad with four smaller alternate pads surrounding it.[3][11][12] However, other changes in future SpaceX plans—most notably the cancellation of a reusable Falcon 9 second stage in favor of what eventually became Starship—resulted in only one pad being actually constructed. LZ-1 hosted its first landing on 22 December 2015 as part of Falcon 9's 20th flight, carrying eleven Orbcomm-OG2 satellites.[13][14][15]
In July 2016, SpaceX applied for permission on building two additional landing pads at LC-13, to be used as a site for the two side boosters of Falcon Heavy.[16] This eventually resulted in the construction of Landing Zone 2, located at the former complex retention pool north of the Atlas pad and sized 126 m (415 ft) in diameter. LZ-2 first saw use as part of Falcon Heavy's maiden flight on 6 February 2018, and was first used for a standard Falcon 9 booster on 11 December 2022 as part of Hakuto-R Mission 1.
During a press conference leading up to the launch of SpaceX Crew-11, William Gerstenmaier announced on 30 July 2025 that LZ-1 would be decommissioned following the flight on 1 August, to be replaced with landing areas located adjacent to their launch pads at Space Launch Complex 40 and Launch Complex 39A.[17][18] He additionally clarified that LZ-2 would continue to be used on an interim basis while the new pads get constructed.
Phantom Space and Vaya Space (from 2023)
On 7 March 2023, the United States Space Force announced that LC-13 was to be leased to companies Phantom Space Corporation and Vaya Space for respective use by their Daytona and Dauntless launch vehicles.[19]Space Launch Delta 45 provided justification as a way to optimize the use of excess launch property and the Eastern Range along Florida's coastline.[20] Unlike with the simultaneous leases granted to Stoke Space at LC-14 and ABL Space Systems at LC-15, the official transfer of operations was not performed until the expiration of the SpaceX lease at the end of July 2025.
Maiden flight of the Atlas E. Hydraulic disconnect caused sustainer engine failure, leading to rocket to tumble and beak up after staging, 154 seconds after launch.
Carried a squirrel monkey as a biological payload. Improper installation of pressure transducer led to sustainer engine failure during launch, leading to RSO protocols being activated 35 seconds into flight.
Part of the Mariner program, designed to explore Mars. First civilian launch from LC-13, and first launch from the pad into heliocentric orbit. Payload fairing failed to separate, preventing satellite from being able to operate.
Final flight of a standard Atlas-Agena and final Agena flight from Cape Canaveral. The final flight launched with a modified Atlas E/F from SLC-3W at Vandenberg. Final flight from LC-13 before conversion to LZ-1 and LZ-2. Most recent launch from LC-13.
↑ The original four Atlas pads were LC-11, 12, 13 and 14.
↑ The structure was so unstable that it could not be safely dismantled and had to be toppled by a controlled explosion before it could be taken apart. This has since become the standard method of dismantling launch complexes at Cape Canaveral and was used in the demolition of Titan infrastructure at LC-40 and LC-41, Atlas infrastructure at LC-36, and Delta infrastructure at SLC-17 and SLC-37.
↑ Graham, William (2015-12-21). "SpaceX returns to flight with OG2, nails historic core return". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2015-12-21. During Monday's launch, the first stage made its historic return to LZ-1 and successfully landed in a milestone event for SpaceX.
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