Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41), previously Launch Complex 41 (LC-41), is an active launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. As of 2020, the site is used by United Launch Alliance (ULA) for Atlas V launches. Previously, it had been used by the USAF for Titan III and Titan IV launches.

Atlas V

After the last Titan launch, the complex was renovated to support the Atlas V. SLC-41 was the site of the first-ever Atlas V launch on 21 August 2002, lifting

Hot Bird 6 Eutelsat 8 West C, known as Hot Bird 6 prior to 2012 and Hot Bird 13A from 2012 to 2013, is a Geostationary orbit, geostationary communications satellite. Operated by Eutelsat, it provides direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting services from geostati ...

, a

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...

geostationary communications spacecraft built around a Spacebus 3000B3 bus. Atlas V rockets are assembled vertically on a mobile launcher platform in the

Vertical Integration Facility The Vertical Integration Building was a building at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, located at the far south end of the industrial area supporting SLC-40 and SLC-41. The building was one of the facilities of the Integrate-Transfer-L ...

, located to the south of the pad. The MLP is transported to the launch pad on rails about a day before launch.

Modifications for supporting human spaceflight

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In September 2015, pad modifications began to support

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

with the Boeing CST-100 Starliner. Modifications include the addition of a launch service tower to provide access to the capsule for "pre-launch processing, crew access, and safety egress systems should the need to evacuate Starliner on the pad occur".

History

Notable payloads

In addition to satellites, Titan vehicles launched several probes from LC-41 in the 1970s, including the

Helios probes ''Helios-A'' and ''Helios-B'' (after launch renamed ' and ') are a pair of probes that were launched into heliocentric orbit to study solar processes. As a joint venture between German Aerospace Center (DLR) and NASA, the probes were launc ...

to study the Sun, the Viking probes to Mars, and the

Voyager Voyager may refer to: Computing and communications * LG Voyager, a mobile phone model manufactured by LG Electronics * NCR Voyager, a computer platform produced by NCR Corporation * Voyager (computer worm), a computer worm affecting Oracle ...

planetary flyby and deep-space probes. More recent probes have also been launched from LC-41 using the Atlas V: the '' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' in August 2005, the ''

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...

'' spacecraft to Pluto in January 2006, the ''Juno'' mission to Jupiter in August 2011, and the Mars rover missions; Mars Science Laboratory in November 2011, and Mars 2020 in July 2020.

Titan III

The Titan III launch facilities at CCAFS were built as part of an Integrate-Transfer-Launch approach intended to enable a rapid launch rate. Titan vehicles were assembled and integrated with their payloads on mobile platforms in separate buildings, then moved by rail to one of two launch pads. The Titan III facilities included LC-40, LC-41, assembly buildings including the

Vertical Integration Building The Vertical Integration Building was a building at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, located at the far south end of the industrial area supporting SLC-40 and SLC-41. The building was one of the facilities of the Integrate-Transfer-L ...

, and the first rail line at the Cape. The facilities were completed in 1964, and the first launch from LC-41 was of a

Titan IIIC The Titan IIIC was an expendable launch system used by the United States Air Force from 1965 until 1982. It was the first Titan booster to feature large solid rocket motors and was planned to be used as a launcher for the Dyna-Soar, though the s ...

carrying four separate payloads on 21 December 1965. The Titan III aligned facility was decommissioned in late 1977.

Titan IV

In 1986 the old mobile service tower was demolished. Another was built for the Titan IV rocket. LC-41 launched the first flight of the Titan IV. The last Titan launch from LC-41 was on 9 April 1999, when a Titan IVB launched the USA 142 early warning satellite. The

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upper stage failed to separate, leaving the payload stranded in a useless GTO orbit.

Launch history

Rocket configuration

References

External links

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
{{Merritt Island Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch complexes of the United States Space Force 1965 establishments in Florida