Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 17

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CCAFS LC-17
View of launch site 17B
View of launch site 17B
Coordinates 28 ° 26 '47 "  N , 80 ° 33' 55"  W Coordinates: 28 ° 26 '47 "  N , 80 ° 33' 55"  W.
Type Orbital Launch Site
operator US Air Force / NASA
start of building 1956
Launch pads 2 (17A, 17B)
Min. Inclination 28 °
Max. Inclination 57 °
Missiles Thor , Delta
First start January 26, 1957
Last start September 10, 2011
status rededicated
CCAFSLC-39 Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 SLC-41 Space Launch Complex 41 SLC-40 Space Launch Complex 40 LC-47 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 47 SLC-37 Space Launch Complex 37 LC-34 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 34 LC-20 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 20 LC-19 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 19 LC-16 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 16 LC-15 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 15 LC-14 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 14 LC-13 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 13 LC-12 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 12 LC-11 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 11 LC-36 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 36 LC-46 Space Launch Complex 46 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 21 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 22 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 9 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 10 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 31 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 32 LC-18 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 18 LC-22 LC-17 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 17 LC-26 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 26 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 5 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 6 LC-29 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 29 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 25 LC-30 Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 30
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Cape Canaveral AFS Launch Complex 17 ( LC-17 ) is an inactive launch complex of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Merritt Island , Cape Canaveral in Florida , USA and consists of the two launch pads LC-17A and LC-17B.

With over 300 rocket launches since the late 1950s, LC-17 was by far the most widely used launch complex on Cape Canaveral.

The site now serves as a development and test center for the planned lunar probes of Moon Express .

history

Originally this number was 1,956 for the testing program of Thor - medium-range missile built. The first launch was from Pad 17B in 1957 and failed.

Various Thor versions of Launch Complex 17 were launched until the 1960s. In addition, the civil Delta rocket , derived from the Thor, was added in the 1960s . In 1965 the USAF handed over the launch site to NASA as it was almost exclusively used for civilian purposes. In 1988, however, launch position 17 was returned to the US Air Force , probably because of the beginning of the large number of delta launches with military GPS navigation satellites. In 1996 the assembly and launch towers, which had previously been painted red, were painted gray.

After that, launch complex 17 was used for the launch of Delta II rockets . On August 17, 2009 it was announced that only launch site 17B would be used for the Delta II missiles in Cape Canaveral. The last start so far took place on September 10, 2011.

The complex

Launch complex 17. Launch site 17A (foreground) and 17B with Delta II 7925-10C missile

The complex consists of two launch ramps: 17A and 17B. Both are concrete launch tables with a flame deflection channel on which a metal launch tower is located. The launch sites each include a mobile metal frame, the assembly tower, which is used to assemble the rockets on the launch table. Once the rocket is mounted, he moves away from the launch table and the rocket is launched. Starting position 17B has since been rebuilt and (in contrast to starting position 17A) the Delta II Heavy and Delta III with their larger solid fuel boosters could also start.

Start list

Individual evidence

  1. Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (Sept. 10, 2011). September 10, 2011, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  2. Moon Express raises $ 12.5 million. In: Spacenews. October 1, 2018, accessed April 2, 2019 .
  3. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d343/
  4. ^ William Graham: Delta II launches with moon-bound GRAIL spacecraft. In: NASASpaceFlight.com. September 10, 2011, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  5. Staff Writers: United Launch Alliance Launches GRAIL Spacecrafts To Moon. In: moondaily. September 12, 2011, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  6. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/launch_differences.html

Web links