Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17

{{Short description|American space launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States}}

{{Infobox launch pad

| name = Space Launch Complex 17

| image = Delta II 7925-10C on pad 17B.jpg

| caption = Delta II launch vehicle with the THEMIS spacecraft atop ready for launch on Pad 17B on 16 February 2007.

| site = Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

| location = {{Coord|28|26|48|N|80|33|58|W|format=dms|display=inline,title|type:landmark_region:US-FL}}

| short = SLC-17

| utc_offset = −05:00

| time_zone = EST

| utc_offset_DST = −04:00

| time_zone_DST = EDT

| operator = United States Space Force
NASA

| tlaunches = 325

| pads = Two

| inclination = 28°-57°

| paddetails = {{Infobox launch pad/pad

| designation = SLC-17A

| status = Demolished

| launches = 161

| first = 30 August 1957|first_details=PGM-17 Thor

| last = 17 August 2009|last_details =Delta II / GPS IIR-M8

| rockets = PGM-17 Thor
Thor-Able
Thor-Delta
Thor DSV-2D
Delta A/B/C/D/E/G/L/M/N
Delta 2000
Delta 3000
Delta II 6000/7000

}} {{Infobox launch pad/pad

| designation = SLC-17B

| status = Demolished

| launches = 164

| first = 25 January 1957 |first_details=PGM-17 Thor

| last = 10 September 2011|last_details =Delta II / GRAIL

| rockets = PGM-17 Thor
Thor-Ablestar
Thor-Delta
Thor DSV-2F
Thor DSV-2G
Delta A/B/C/E/G
Delta 1000
Delta 2000
Delta 3000
Delta 4000
Delta II 6000/7000/H
Delta III 8000

}} }}

Space Launch Complex 17{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.350|title=Issue 350|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|date=1998-02-22|work=Jonathan's Space Report|publisher=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=2009-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503232748/http://planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.350|archive-date=2010-05-03|url-status=dead}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20010305204746/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/au-18/au180051.htm Table 3] {{PD-notice}} (SLC-17), previously designated Launch Complex 17 (LC-17), was a launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida used for Thor and Delta launch vehicles launches between 1958 and 2011.

Originally built in 1956, SLC-17 features two expendable launch vehicle (ELV) launch pads, SLC-17A and SLC-17B. The pads were operated by the 45th Space Wing and have supported more than 300 Department of Defense, NASA and commercial missile and rocket launches.

History

SLC-17 was built in 1956 by the United States Air Force for use with the PGM-17 Thor missile, the first operational ballistic missile in the arsenal of the United States. It was initially designed for testing suborbital launches of the Thor, in accordance to the IRBM's planned stationing in the United Kingdom as part of Project Emily. Pad 17A supported its first Thor missile launch on 3 August 1957, and Pad 17B supported its first Thor launch on 25 January 1957. As the Thor got wound down from missile use due to the advent of longer-range ICBMs, the site was upgraded in the early 1960s to support a variety of space-oriented launch vehicles derived from the basic Thor booster. Initially starting with the Thor-Able in 1958, these Thor-based rockets came to be called the Delta family of launch vehicles.

Thirty-five early Delta rocket missions were launched from Complex 17 between the beginning of 1960 and the end of 1965. The Air Force transferred Launch Complex 17A to NASA in 1965, but the site was returned to the military in 1988 to support McDonnell Douglas's Delta II program.

As Delta II launches continued over the next decades, Pad 17B was modified in 1997 to support a new, more powerful launch vehicle, the Delta III, which made its maiden flight from the complex on 26 August 1998. The launch ended in failure, as did a second launch the next year. After a third launch on 23 August 2000 placed a mass simulator into a lower than planned orbit, the program was abandoned.

Among the major NASA missions launched from the complex were the Explorer and Pioneer space probes, all of the Orbiting Solar Observatories, the Solar Maximum Mission, biological satellites (Biosatellite program), the International Cometary Explorer (ICE), the TIROS and GOES meteorology satellites, and the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

Following the last military launch, in August 2009, SLC-17A was withdrawn from use, and LC-17B was transferred to NASA for two remaining launches. On 10 September 2011, a Delta II 7920H-10C made the final launch from SLC-17B, carrying NASA's GRAIL spacecraft. All remaining Delta II launches were made from SLC-2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California until its ultimate retirement in 2018.

At 11:00 UTC (7:00 a.m. EDT) on 12 July 2018, both launch towers had been demolished via controlled demolition to make way for Moon Express to build and test its lunar lander.{{cite web |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/07/12/launch-complex-17-demolition/|title=Towers at disused Florida launch pad to be toppled Thursday|publisher=Spaceflight Now|website=spaceflightnow.com|date=12 July 2018 |access-date=12 July 2018}}

As of August 2024, the United States Space Force (having taken over the Air Force's jurisdiction) plans to fully demolish SLC-17 and the neighboring LC-18 in favor of extending Lighthouse Road and reconnecting its two separate sections back together.{{Cite web |date=20 August 2024 |title=NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 Industry Day |url=https://sam.gov/opp/7111789df59149cd81596402c35e33d3/view |access-date=25 October 2024 |website=Space and Missile Systems Center}}

Launch statistics

= SLC-17A =

{{#invoke:Chart | bar chart

| float = center

| width = 800

| height = 400

| stack = 1

| group 1 = 4:1:0: 0:0:1:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0

| group 2 = 0:6:9: 2:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0

| group 3 = 0:0:0: 0:0:1:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0

| group 4 = 0:0:0: 3:3:6:2:4: 4:4:1:2:7: 5:3:0:0:0: 2:4:4:4:2: 3:3:4:3:2: 0:1:1:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0

| group 5 = 0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:4: 6:1:4:5:1: 1:3:5:5:4: 3:3:1:3:1: 1:3:3:1:2

| colors = Blue: LightBlue : Aquamarine : DarkBlue : Teal

| group names = Thor : Thor-Able : Thor-Ablestar : Thor-Delta : Delta II

| x legends = '57::: 1960::::: 1965::::: 1970::::: 1975::::: 1980::::: 1985::::: 1990::::: 1995::::: 2000::::: 2005::::'09

| y tick marks = 9

| units suffix = _launches

}}

= SLC-17B =

{{#invoke:Chart | bar chart

| float = center

| width = 800

| height = 400

| stack = 1

| group 1 = 6:8:13: 0:0:0:1:4: 1:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0

| group 2 = 0:0:0: 5:3:2:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0

| group 3 = 0:0:0: 0:0:3:5:1: 4:3:7:2:2: 0:0:2:3:6: 5:3:6:4:1: 0:0:2:3:1: 0:1:1:1:2: 1:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0

| group 4 = 0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:1: 4:4:7:2:2: 1:5:0:2:4: 1:2:0:3:4: 1:1:2:1:2: 0:1

| group 5 = 0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:1:1: 1:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 0:0

| colors = Blue: Aquamarine : DarkBlue : Teal : Cyan

| group names = Thor : Thor-Ablestar : Thor-Delta : Delta II : Delta III

| x legends = '57::: 1960::::: 1965::::: 1970::::: 1975::::: 1980::::: 1985::::: 1990::::: 1995::::: 2000::::: 2005::::: 2010:

| y tick marks = 5

| units suffix = _launches

}}

{{Portal|Spaceflight

}}

Gallery

File:Complex Number 17 at Cape Canaveral where TIROS-carrying Thor-Delta rockets were launched (2268-119).jpg|SLC-17 in the 1960s, holding a Thor-Delta carrying TIROS satellites

File:View over Launch Complex 17.jpg|SLC-17 showing pads A and B in 2007

File:GENERAL VIEW OF BLOCKHOUSE IN SETTING FROM ROOF OF 36001; VIEW TO EAST. - Cape Canaveral Air Station, Launch Complex 17, Facility 28401, East end of Lighthouse Road, Cape HAER FAL,5-CACAN,1A-1.tif|SLC-17 blockhouse with the Mobile Service Tower in the distance.

File:Space Launch Complex-17 demolition (180712-F-DJ189-0001).jpg|The two launch towers of SLC-17 getting demolished in 2018

References

{{cite web|author=Lynda Warnock|author2=Dennis Armstrong|title=MESSENGER Launch Pad Activities: About Launch Complex 17|url=http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elvnew/messenger/lc17.htm|publisher=NASA|date=20 May 2004|access-date=12 December 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923110712/http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elvnew/messenger/lc17.htm|archive-date=23 September 2008}} {{PD-notice}}

External links

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pPjNsYiks0 Video of demolition of Launch Complex 17]

Category:Cape Canaveral Space Force Station