Space Launch Complex 41

Overview

Systems

Other Programs

  • LES
  • IDCSP
  • Viking
  • Voyager
  • Helios
  • DSP
  • Hot Bird
  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
  • Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
  • X-37B
  • Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite
  • Classified military programs
  • Curiosity – Mars Science Lab

Cost: Not available

Launch Complex 41 Highlights

  • 24 November 1962 – Construction started for Titan IIIC launches
  • April 1965 – Construction completed
  • 21 December 1965 to 23 May 1969 – Total of 10 Titan IIIC launched
  • 11 February 1974 to 5 September 1977 – Titan IIIE Centaur launched NASA’s three Viking mission to Mars, two Voyager missions to outer planets, and two Helios solar spacecraft
  • 1977 – Deactivated
  • January 1986 to 1988 – Complex upgraded to Titan IVA which included refurbishing the Mobile Service Tower (MST), the Umbilical Tower (UT) and other facilities. The Solid Motor Assembly Building (SMAB) and Vertical Integration Building (VIB) were also modified
  • 14 June 1989 – First Titan IVA launch, Defense Support Program payload
  • 14 June 1989 to 12 August 1998 – Total of 9 Titan IVA launched
  • 9 April 1999 – Sole Titan IVB launched
  • 14 October 1999 – Olshan Demolishing Company detonated 180 pounds of explosives to bring down the Umbilical and Mobile Service Towers
  • Old Mobile Tower taken down and a new service tower constructed for the new Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)
  • Summer 2000 – The Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) 1,800′ south of the pad completed. The VIF is 292′ high. The VIF is used to stack and integrate the Atlas V on the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP). The 5′ thick slab rests on 65′ deep pilings to support the Atlas V and VIF. A 42,000-gallon liquid hydrogen tank, two 45,000-gallon stainless steel RP-1 tanks and a 465,000-gallon liquid oxygen spherical tank are at the pad
  • 2001 – Mobile Launch Platform construction completed
  • 2001 – New Atlas V Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC) completed. The 4-story-tall ASOC is 4 miles from the pad. The ASOC includes a two-story amphitheater, mission operations center, a two-story launch control center and various management/engineering support rooms. With 30,000 square feet of floor space, the ASOC could process up to 6 Atlas V at a time
  • 21 August 2001 – First Atlas V 401 launched
  • 17 July 2003 – First Atlas V 521 launched
  • 11 March 2005 – First Atlas V 431 launched
  • 19 January 2006 – First Atlas V 551 launched
  • 20 April 2006 – First Atlas V 411 launched
  • 10 October 2007 – First Atlas V 421 launched
  • 14 August 2010 – First Atlas V 531 launched

Related Pages:

More Cape Canaveral Facilities
History Center Storyboard – Launch Complex 41