Launch Complex 13

Overview

Systems

Other Programs

  • Monkey “Goliath”
  • VELA
  • Lunar Orbiter
  • Mariner
  • Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (OGO) E
  • Classified Department of Defense program

Cost: $4,521,866

Launch Complex 13 Highlights

  • April 1956 – Construction started
  • 14 April 1958 – Air Force accepted the launch complex
  • 2 August 1958 – First of two Atlas B launches
  • 14 April 1959 – 11 March 1960 – Thirteen Atlas D launches
  • 15 February 1960 – Atlas Able exploded during static firing
  • 11 October 1960 – 13 February 1962 – Fourteen Atlas E launches
  • 10 November 1961 – Monkey “Goliath” launched on Atlas E; mission failed
  • 9 August 1961 – One Atlas F launched
  • 1962-1963 – Pad converted into an Atlas Agena D complex for space launches. The A-frame Mobile Service Tower was demolished and a new larger, square-shaped structure was built.
  • 17 October 1963 – 20 July 1965 – Three VELA launches (two satellites each)
  • 5 November 1964 – NASA Mariner 3 mission launched by an Atlas Agena
  • 1966 – Launch complex turned over to NASA for civilian Atlas Agena D launches
  • 6 November 1966 – 4 March 1968 – Six NASA Atlas Agena D launched; five Lunar Orbiter and one Orbiting Geophysical Observatory E
  • March 1968 – Returned to Air Force
  • 6 August 1968 – 7 April 1978 – Eleven classified Atlas Agena D launches for the Air Force
  • 7 April 1978 – Launch complex deactivated after the last launch. Supported 51 Atlas and Atlas Agena launches
  • 6 August 2005 – Mobile Service Tower came down by a controlled explosion
  • June 2012 – Blockhouse demolished
  • February 2015 – Site leased by SpaceX to be used as a landing platform for the Falcon9 1st stage
  • Site renamed Landing Zone One (LZ-1)
More Cape Canaveral Facilities
History Center Storyboard – Launch Complex 13