Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37), previously Launch Complex 37 (LC-37), is a launch complex on

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 stati ...

, Florida. Construction began in 1959 and the site was accepted by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

to support the

Saturn I The Saturn I was a rocket designed as the United States' first medium lift launch vehicle for up to low Earth orbit payloads.Terminology has changed since the 1960s; back then, 20,000 pounds was considered "heavy lift". The rocket's first st ...

program in 1963. The complex consists of two launch pads. LC-37A has never been used, but LC-37B launched uncrewed Saturn I flights (1964 to 1965) and was modified and launched

Saturn IB The Saturn IB (also known as the uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It uprated the Saturn I by replacing the S-IV second stage (, 43 ...

flights (1966 to 1968), including the first (uncrewed) test of the

Apollo Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...

in space ( Apollo 5). It was deactivated in 1972. In 2001 it was modified as the launch site for

Delta IV Delta IV is a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta rocket family introduced in the early 2000s. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, th ...

, a launch system operated by

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance (ULA), legally United Launch Alliance, LLC, is an American spacecraft launch service provider that manufactures and operates a number of rocket vehicles that are capable of launching spacecraft into orbits around Earth, a ...

. The original layout of the launch complex featured one Mobile Service Structure which could be used to service or mate a rocket on either LC-37A or 37B, but not on both simultaneously. The Delta IV Mobile Service Tower is tall, and fitted to service all Delta IV configurations, including the Delta IV Heavy.

Launch history

Rocket configuration

Saturn

All flights operated by NASA. Apollo 5 on pad

Delta

IN 1998, Boeing secured the right to use SLC-37 for launch of the Delta IV rocket family. Facility modifications were made to SLC-37B and te first launch occurred in 2002. The

Delta IV Medium Delta IV is a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta rocket family introduced in the early 2000s. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, the ...

and Delta IV Heavy are launched from SLC-37.

Photos

File:LC-37.jpg, Map of Launch Complex 37 of the 1960s, with original Mobile Service Structure File: Launch Complex 37.jpg, LC-37B in 2010, with current Mobile Service Tower

References

External links

Boeing Delta IV website
{{Merritt Island Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch complexes of the United States Space Force Apollo program 1964 establishments in Florida