Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 16
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 Titan I launch from LC-16 | |||||||||||
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| Launch site | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station | ||||||||||
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| Location | 28°30′06″N 80°33′06″W / 28.5017°N 80.5518°W | ||||||||||
| Short name | LC-16 | ||||||||||
| Operator | US Space Force | ||||||||||
| Total launches | 142 | ||||||||||
| Launch pad(s) | One | ||||||||||
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Launch Complex 16 (LC-16) is a launch pad site located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. Part of the Missile Row lineup of launch pads, it was built for use by LGM-25 Titan missiles, and later used for NASA operations before being transferred back to the US military and used for tests of MGM-31 Pershing missiles. Six Titan I missiles were launched from the complex between December 1959 and May 1960. These were followed by seven Titan II missiles, starting with the type's maiden flight on March 16, 1962. The last Titan II launch from LC-16 was conducted on May 29, 1963.
Following the end of its involvement with the Titan missile, on 16 September 1964 LC-16 was released to NASA,[1] which used it for Gemini crew processing, and static firing tests of the Apollo Service Module's propulsion engine. Following its return to the US Air Force in 1972, it was converted for use by the Pershing missile, which made its first flight from the complex on May 7, 1974. Seventy-nine Pershing 1a and 49 Pershing II missiles were launched from LC-16. The last Pershing launch from the facility was conducted on March 21, 1988. It was deactivated the next day and subsequently decommissioned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
It was announced on January 17, 2019, that Relativity Space had entered a 5-year agreement to use LC-16 for its Terran 1 orbital launch vehicle and eventually its Terran R.[2][3] The maiden flight of the Terran 1 launch vehicle took place on 23 March 2023 and resulted in a failure.[4] The maiden flight of Terran 1 was the first orbital launch attempt from Launch Complex 16 (141 suborbital launches before the Terran 1).[5]
Launch statistics
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Ertel, I.D. (1973). The Apollo Spacecraft: Through November 7, 1962. NASA SP. Scientific and Technical Information Division, Office of Technology Utilization, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 224. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ Sheetz, Michael (January 17, 2019). "3D printer Relativity Space gets Air Force contract for Florida launch pad". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- ^ Burghardt, Thomas (June 8, 2021). "Relativity Space reveals fully reusable medium lift launch vehicle Terran R". www.nasaspaceflight.com. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ Iemole, Anthony (March 23, 2023). "Relativity overachieves Terran 1 debut objectives". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ Baylor, Michael. "Terran-1 - Good Luck, Have Fun". Next Spaceflight. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
Sources
[edit]- Wade, Mark. "Cape Canaveral LC16". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on September 10, 2003. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
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