Wallops Flight Facility Launch Area 3

{{Short description|Rocket launch site on Wallops Island, Virginia, U.S.}}

{{Use American English|date=July 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{{Infobox launch pad

| name = Launch Area 3

| image = Scout X-1 with Explorer 9 Feb 16 1961 2.JPG

| imsize = 300

| caption = Launch of a Scout X-1 from the original LA-3

| site = Wallops Flight Facility

| location = {{Coord|37.8506|N|75.4725|W}}

| short = LA-3

| operator = NASA

| tlaunches = 45

| pads = Two

| paddetails = {{Infobox launch pad/pad

| designation = LA-3 (Mk.I)

| status = Inactive

| launches = 22

| first = 1960-04-18

| last = 1970-03-07

| rockets = Scout X
Scout X-1
Scout X-1A
Scout X-2
Scout X-3
Scout X-3A
Scout X-4
Scout X-4A
Nike-Apache
Nike-Iroquois

}} {{Infobox launch pad/pad

| designation = LA-3A (Mk.II)

| status = Inactive

| launches = 23

| first = 1964-07-20

| last = 1985-12-13

| rockets = Scout X-3C
Scout X-4
Scout X-4A
Scout X-5C
Scout B
Scout B-1
Scout D-1
Scout G-1}}

}}

Launch Area 3 (LA-3) at the Wallops Flight Facility is a launch complex which was used, mostly by Scout rockets, between 1960 and 1985. Forty-one Scout launches occurred from the complex, making both orbital and suborbital. In addition, four Nike sounding rockets were launched from the complex in 1970.

Launch Area 3 contains two launch pads, Area 3 and Area 3A.

Area 3, also known as the Mk.I launcher, was used by eighteen Scout rockets between 1960 and 1964. The first launch from the complex, on 18 April 1960, was the maiden flight of the Scout launch vehicle, using the Scout X configuration. The last Scout launch from the pad occurred on 6 November 1964. On 7 March 1970, a Nike-Apache and four Nike-Iroquois rockets were launched from the complex.

The upgraded Launch Area 3A, or Mk.II launcher, replaced the original Launch Area 3. It was used for twenty-three Scout launches, starting on 20 July 1964. The last launch from the complex occurred on 13 December 1985.

File:Photograph of a Rocket being Lifted onto the Launch Structure to be Prepared for Launch at the Wallops Island Launch Area in Virginia - DPLA - 3ef6dd4106c4a2279b7ed5aa4ff4194b.jpg|Rocket being Lifted onto the Launch Structure to be Prepared for Launch at the Wallops Island Launch Area in Virginia, 1961

File:Scout rocket at Wallops.jpg|Scout rocket on the launch pad at Wallops Flight Center.

File:Rocket on Launcher at Wallops Island - GPN-2000-001897.jpg|B4-988/ Scout rocket (#S-138R) in horizontal position at LA-3A in 1965. LA-3 visible at the top left.

File:Scout-X5C Reentry-5.jpg|Scout-X5C with Reentry-F payload on launch pad at Wallops Island, 1968