Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 46
 An Athena II at LC-46 prior to the launch of Lunar Prospector. | |||||||||||||
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| Launch site | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station | ||||||||||||
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| Location | 28°27′30″N 80°31′42″W / 28.45833°N 80.52833°W | ||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (EST) | ||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) | ||||||||||||
| Short name | SLC-46 | ||||||||||||
| Operator | United States Space Force (owner) Space Florida (tenant) Astra Space (subtenant) | ||||||||||||
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The Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46), previously Launch Complex 46 (LC-46), is a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station operated under license by Space Florida previously used for Athena rocket launches. It has been used by Astra Space for the Rocket 3 system and is currently used as a multipurpose launch pad.[1]
History
[edit]Construction and Trident Operations
[edit]This complex was built as part of the United States Navy's Trident II submarine-launch missile development effort. Construction was underway by early February 1984, with the first Trident II launch LC-46 occurring on 15 January 1987. A total of 19 Trident IIs were launched from the site between 15 January 1987 and 27 January 1989. After this, all subsequent Trident II testing took place at sea, and the site was deactivated.[2]
During the construction of then-called LC-46, the nearby sounding rocket complex LC-43 was demolished. Its operations were transferred to LC-47.
Space Florida
[edit]In 1997, Space Florida began operations at the site, and was opened for commercial space operations. Lockheed Martin launched an Athena II and an Athena I from the pad in 1998 and 1999 respectively. The Athena II, launched January 7, 1998, carried the Lunar Prospector spacecraft which orbited the Moon. On January 27, 1999, the Athena I lifted off with Taiwan's first satellite, ROCSAT-1, carrying experimental communications, ocean imagery, and ionospheric studies instruments.
In March 2010, the USAF 45th Space Wing issued Real Property Licenses to Space Florida for Launch Complexes 36 and 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.[3][4] On July 1, 2010, the Federal Aviation Administration approved a Launch Site Operator's License for commercial launches at Launch Complex 46.[5]
On September 24, 2010, the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast was awarded a $500,000 Defense Infrastructure Grant from the State of Florida to be used for critical communications upgrades at SLC-46.[6] In early 2014, Space Florida contracted with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to begin phase three of the communications infrastructure refurbishment, with completion expected to take one year.[7]
In July 2015, the U.S. Air Force and Orbital ATK announced a Minotaur IV launched from SLC-46 would be used for the ORS-5 mission in 2017.[8][9] ORS-5 was successfully launched on August 26, 2017.[10]
Ascent Abort-2
[edit]On July 2, 2019, NASA launched a repurposed Peacekeeper missile from SLC-46, carrying the Orion spacecraft for the Ascent Abort-2 mission.[11] The mission's goal was to demonstrate and qualify the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS) that will allow the astronaut crew to safely escape in the event of an emergency during launch pad operations, through the ascent phase of the Orion vehicle.
Astra
[edit]On December 6, 2021, Astra announced plans to launch its small orbital rockets from SLC-46 as soon as February 2022.[12] The company was planning for a launch cadence of once a month for two years.[13]
On 10 February 2022, the first Astra launch from SLC-46 resulted in failure. After two previous scrubbed launch attempts in the preceding days, the launch of the rocket occurred nominally. However, first stage separation failed, leading to the second stage to spin out of control, and the rocket and payload were lost.[14]
On 12 June 2022, the second Astra launch from SLC-46 also resulted in failure. Astra's Rocket 3.3 vehicle (serial number LV0010) carrying two TROPICS CubeSats for NASA failed to reach orbit and the satellites were lost.[15]
ABL and Dark Eagle
[edit]In March 2023, ABL Space Systems announced that they would be using SLC-46 as a temporary launching site for their RS1.[16] That month, they were leased Launch Complex 15 by the United States Space Force, and clarified that this measure was taken while LC-15 undergoes reactivation.[17] ABL stated their first launch from Pad 46 would happen later in the year. However, no launch has yet occurred and future outlooks remain in doubt following ABL's withdrawal from the launch market in October 2024.[18]
On December 12, 2024, the United States Army and United States Navy launched and tested their Dark Eagle Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon from SLC-46 in a joint exercise.[19][20]
Launch statistics
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Launch Complex 46 | Space Florida". www.spaceflorida.gov. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
- ^ "Cape Canaveral LC46". astronautix.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
- ^ "Air Force licenses two launch complexes for commercial use". Patrick Air Force Base. March 12, 2010. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ Lange, Tina (March 12, 2010). "Space Florida secures licenses for Launch Complexes 46 and 36". Space Florida. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ Staff (July 9, 2010). "Space Florida receives FAA license for SLC-46". Space Florida. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
- ^ "FL. Governor Crist Awards $500k Defense Infrastructure Grant for SLC-46". The Spacearium. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ Messier, Doug (February 11, 2014). "ATK to Upgrade Space Florida's Launch Complex 46". Parabolic Arc. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
- ^ Clark, Stephen (July 9, 2015). "Minotaur rocket selected to launch military satellite in 2017". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- ^ Ray, Justin (February 12, 2017). "Teams practice for Cape Canaveral's first launch of Minotaur 4 rocket". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ Wall, Mike (August 26, 2017). "Converted Missile Launches Military Satellite to Track Spacecraft and Debris". Space.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ Brown, Katherine (July 2, 2019). "Successful Orion Test Brings NASA Closer to Moon, Mars Missions". NASA. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ "Astra Announces Launch For NASA From Cape Canaveral In January | Astra". astra.com. December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
- ^ "Confirmed: Astra to launch from SLC-46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station". Space Explored. November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ "Astra launch of NASA-sponsored cubesats fails". SpaceNews. February 10, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- ^ "After launch from Cape Canaveral, Astra rocket fails to boost NASA payloads to orbit".
- ^ Foust, Jeff (March 10, 2023). "Space Force allocates three historic Cape Canaveral launch pads to four companies". SpaceNews. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
- ^ @ablspacesystems (March 7, 2023). "We'll use SLC-46 beginning later this year to serve our near-term customer manifest while SLC-15 activation work is completed" (Tweet). Retrieved February 15, 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ Berger, Eric (November 15, 2024). "As ABL Space departs launch, the 1-ton rocket wars have a clear winner". Ars Technica. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
- ^ Neale, Rick. "U.S. military launches Dark Eagle hypersonic missile in Thursday test from Cape Canaveral". Florida Today. Retrieved February 15, 2025.