Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the commanding ship of a nineteenth-century scientific expedition that traveled the world, Challenger was the second Space Shuttle orbiter to fly into space after Columbia, and launched on its maiden flight in April 1983. It was destroyed in January 1986 soon after launch in a disaster that killed all seven crewmembers aboard.
Vandenberg Space Force Base, previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.
The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first nuclear armed, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was a liquid-propellant rocket using RP-1 fuel and LOX oxidizer, with a single Rocketdyne LR79-NA rocket engine producing 667 kilonewtons (150,000 lbf) of thrust. It was armed with the 1.44 megatons of TNT (6.0 PJ) W49 nuclear warhead. The prime contractor was the Chrysler Corporation.
Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built as the Apollo program's "Moonport" and later modified for the Space Shuttle program.
Launch Complex 34 (LC-34) is a deactivated launch site on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. LC-34 and its companion LC-37 to the north were used by NASA from 1961 through 1968 to launch Saturn I and IB rockets as part of the Apollo program. It was the site of the Apollo 1 fire, which claimed the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee on January 27, 1967. The first crewed Apollo launch — Apollo 7 on October 11, 1968 — was the last time LC-34 was used.
Space Launch Complex 17 (SLC-17), previously designated Launch Complex 17 (LC-17), was a launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Florida used for Thor and Delta launch vehicles launches between 1958 and 2011.
Launch Complex 19 (LC-19) is a deactivated launch site on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida used by NASA to launch all of the Gemini crewed spaceflights. It was also used by uncrewed Titan I and Titan II missiles.
Launch Complex 14 (LC-14) is a launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. LC-14 was used for various crewed and uncrewed Atlas launches, including the Friendship 7 flight aboard which John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in February 1962.
The Titan 34D was a United States expendable launch vehicle used to launch a number of satellites for military applications.
Launch Complex 576 is a group of rocket launch pads at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The pads were used from 1959 until 1971 to launch SM-65 Atlas missiles. The site was also known as Complex ABRES. Pads in Area 576 include 576A-1, 576A-2 and 576A-3, 576B-1, 576B-2 and 576B-3, 576-C, 576-D, 576-E, OSTF-1 and OSTF-2.
Launch Complex 6 (LC-6) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida is a launch site used by Redstone and Jupiter series rockets and missiles. It is on the south end of Cape Canaveral, close to Launch Complex 5, with which it shared a blockhouse. With LC-5, it was the location of the first tests of the mobile launch concept designed by Kurt H. Debus. This concept was revised and improved and eventually used at LC-39 for the Saturn V and Space Shuttle.
Launch Complex 11 (LC-11) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, is a launch complex used by Atlas missiles between 1958 and 1964. It is the southernmost of the launch pads known as Missile Row. When it was built, it, along with complexes 12, 13 and 14, 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 (20 ft) tall and a reinforced blockhouse. The rockets were delivered to the launch pad by a ramp on the southwest side of the launch pedestal.
Launch Complex 12 (LC-12) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida was a launch pad used by Atlas rockets and missiles between 1958 and 1967. It was the second-most southern of the pads known as Missile Row, between LC-11 to the south and LC-13 to the north. Along with Complexes 11, 13 and 14, LC-12 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 (20 ft) tall and a reinforced blockhouse. The rockets were delivered to the launch pad by means of a ramp on the southwest side of the launch pedestal.
Launch Complex 13 (LC-13) was a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCAS), the third-most southerly of the original launch complexes known as Missile Row, lying between LC-12 and LC-14. In 2015, the LC-13 site was leased by SpaceX and was renovated for use as Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, the company's East Coast landing location for returning Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicle booster stages. It is leased by US Space Force to Phantom Space and Vaya Space who will operate this launch complex after the termination of SpaceX's lease in future.
Launch Complex 31 (LC-31) is a former launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
Launch Complex 22 (LC-22) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, United States, is a launch complex that was used for horizontal launches of cruise missiles between 1957 and 1960. It consisted of two launch rails, from which XSM-73 Bull Goose and MGM-13 Mace missiles were tested. Unlike the other Mace launch site, Launch Complex 21, no concrete structure was built to enclose the launch rails when it was converted to launch the Mace in 1959. This earned the pad the nickname of "the softsite".
GPS IIR-1 or GPS SVN-42 was the first Block IIR GPS satellite to be launched. It was to have been operated as part of the United States Air Force Global Positioning System. It was launched on 17 January 1997, and was destroyed 13 seconds into its flight due to a malfunction of the Delta II launch vehicle that was carrying it. It was estimated to have cost US$40 million, with its launch vehicle costing US$55 million. The satellite that was used for the GPS IIR-1 mission was the second production IIR satellite, SVN-42.
The 6555th Aerospace Test Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Eastern Space and Missile Center and stationed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 October 1990.
Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 47 is a launch pad for sounding rockets located at the north end of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. It is the smallest launch complex at the Space Force Station. The complex features a small blockhouse a few yards from the pad, containing vehicle-specific hardware. Between 1984 and 2008, 531 sounding rockets were launched from pad 47. All weather rocket operations were relocated here from Launch Complex 43 in 1984 in order to make room for the construction of Launch Complex 46.
