The Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46), previously Launch Complex 46 (LC-46), is a launch complex at

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the statio ...

operated under license by

Space Florida Space Florida is the aerospace economic development agency of the State of Florida. The agency was created by consolidating three existing state space entities into a single new organization via the Space Florida Act, enacted in May 2006 by the ...

previously used for

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

rocket launches.

History

Construction and Trident Operations

This complex was built as part of the U.S. Navy's

Trident II A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

submarine-launch missile development effort. Construction was underway by early February 1984, with the first Trident II launch LC-46 occurring on 15 January 1987. A total of 19 Trident IIs were launched from the site between 15 January 1987 and 27 January 1989. After this, all subsequent Trident II testing took place at sea, and the site was deactivated. During the construction of then-called LC-46, the nearby sounding rocket complex LC-43 was demolished. Its operations were transferred to

LC-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

Space Florida

In 1997, Space Florida began operations at the site, and was opened for commercial space operations. Lockheed Martin launched an

Athena II The Athena II is an American small expendable launch system which was used for three launches between 1998 and 1999, and which was scheduled to return to service in 2012 but has not been flown again . It is a member of the Athena family of rocket ...

and an Athena I from the pad in 1998 and 1999 respectively. The Athena II, launched January 7, 1998, carried the Lunar Prospector spacecraft which orbited the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

. On January 27, 1999, the Athena I lifted off with Taiwan's first satellite,

ROCSAT-1 Formosat-1 (福爾摩沙衛星一號, formerly known as ROCSAT-1) is an Earth observation satellite operated by the National Space Program Office (NSPO, now the National Space Organization) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to conduct observations ...

, carrying experimental communications, ocean imagery, and ionospheric studies instruments. In March 2010, the USAF 45th Space Wing issued Real Property Licenses to Space Florida for Launch Complexes 36 and 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. On July 1, 2010, the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

approved a Launch Site Operator's License for commercial launches at Launch Complex 46. On September 24, 2010, the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast was awarded a $500,000 Defense Infrastructure Grant from the State of Florida to be used for critical communications upgrades at SLC-46. In early 2014, Space Florida contracted with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to begin phase three of the communications infrastructure refurbishment, with completion expected to take one year. In July 2015, the U.S. Air Force and

Orbital ATK Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) was a sector (business segment) of Northrop Grumman from 2018 through 2019. It was formed from Orbital ATK Inc. a company which resulted from the merger of Orbital Sciences Corporation and parts of Alli ...

announced a

Minotaur IV Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is operated by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010, carry ...

launched from SLC-46 would be used for the

ORS-5 The Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS Office) is a joint initiative of several agencies within the United States Department of Defense (DoD). The "stand up" of the office took place 21 May 2007 at Kirtland Air Force Base. The first direct ...

mission in 2017. ORS-5 was successfully launched on August 26, 2017.

Ascent Abort-2

On July 2, 2019,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

launched a repurposed Peacekeeper missile from SLC-46, carrying the

Orion spacecraft Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin and the Euro ...

for the Ascent Abort-2 mission. The mission's goal was to demonstrate and qualify the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS) that will allow the astronaut crew to safely escape in the event of an emergency during launch pad operations, through the ascent phase of the Orion vehicle.

Astra

On December 6, 2021, Astra announced plans to launch its small orbital rockets from SLC-46 as soon as February 2022. The company was planning for a launch cadence of once a month for two years. On 10 February 2022, the first Astra launch from SLC-46 resulted in failure. After two previous scrubbed launch attempts in the preceding days, the launch of the rocket occurred nominally. However, first stage separation failed, leading to the second stage to spin out of control, and the rocket and payload were lost. On 12 June 2022, the second Astra launch from SLC-46 also resulted in failure. Astra's Rocket 3.3 vehicle (serial number LV0010) carrying two

TROPICS The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referr ...

CubeSats for

failed to reach orbit and the satellites were lost.

References

External links

History of Launch Complex 46
{{Merritt Island Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch complexes of the United States Space Force Rocket launch sites in the United States 1987 establishments in Florida