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List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites

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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.

Contents

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 13 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.

Spaceport Florida

As of 2008, 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. It is not known if the plan was subsequently implemented. Blue Origin leased Complex 36 in 2015, with plans to launch its reusable orbital vehicle from there by 2020.

References

List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites Wikipedia


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