Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 in the context of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station


Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 in the context of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

⭐ Core Definition: Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36

Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) is a launch complex located at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Located south of the Missile Row launch range, the complex originally consisted of two pads—designated LC-36A and LC-36B—to support the flights of Atlas launch vehicles equipped with a Centaur upper stage. From the 1960s to the 1980s, LC-36 was used by NASA and the United States Air Force to launch many payloads from the Atlas-Centaur and its derivatives, including the Pioneer, Surveyor, and Mariner probes. During the late 1980s, LC-36B was also used to launch the Atlas G, and General Dynamics (and later Lockheed Martin) modified the two pads to support the larger Atlas I, Atlas II, and Atlas III throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

Following the Atlas program's relocation to Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) in 2005, LC-36 stood vacant until Blue Origin acquired the lease in 2015 for use by their heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. The company made extensive modifications to the complex during this time, including demolishing 36A and 36B to build one large pad in place, as well as integrating the neighboring Launch Complex 11 (LC-11) into the facility. Following this large-scale renovation, the new era of LC-36 commenced with the maiden flight of New Glenn in January 2025.

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Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 in the context of 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 station is the primary launch site for the Space Force's Eastern Range with four launch pads currently active (Space Launch Complexes 36, 40, 41 and 46). The facility is south-southeast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center on adjacent Merritt Island, with the two linked by bridges and causeways. The Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip provides a 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway close to the launch complexes for military airlift aircraft delivering heavy and outsized payloads to the Cape.

View the full Wikipedia page for Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
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