Vandenberg Launch Complex 576E
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| Launch site | Vandenberg Space Force Base | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | 34°44′22″N 120°37′09″W / 34.7394°N 120.6192°W | ||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC−08:00 (PST) | ||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC−07:00 (PDT) | ||||||||||||
| Short name | LC-576E | ||||||||||||
| Operator | United States Space Force (owner) Northrop Grumman (tenant) | ||||||||||||
| Launch pad(s) | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Orbital inclination range | 55–145° | ||||||||||||
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Launch Complex 576E (LC-576E or SLC-576E) is a launch pad located at Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, California. Part of the ABRES series of launch complexes,[1] the pad was originally designed and built for the launching and testing of SM-65 Atlas ICBMs as part of the Western Range, and now serves as a orbital launch site for the Minotaur-C launch vehicles.[2]
History
[edit]LC-576E was originally constructed by the United States Air Force in the late 1950s as part of the Complex ABRES series of launch pads, to be used in the testing of the SM-65F Atlas for the Strategic Air Command. The maiden launch from the complex was performed on August 1, 1962,[3] and further seeing three additional Atlas launches over the next two years. This era swiftly came to an end however with the retirement of the Atlas as a missile in 1965, following the wake of replacements like the LGM-25C Titan II and the LGM-30 Minuteman being introduced.[4] Additionally, with orbital Atlas rockets from Vandenberg already being launched from SLC-3 and SLC-4, the necessity of ABRES was no longer required and the complex was deactivated.
For the following 30 years, LC-576E was mothballed and no launches would come from the site. However, winds would change in the early 1990s when the Air Force reactivated the site for Orbital Sciences Corporation's Taurus launch vehicle, following their earlier success with the air-launched Pegasus.[5] The new era for LC-576E kicked off with its first orbital launch on March 13, 1994, lifting off a Taurus carrying TAOS for the Air Force and a satellite for ARPA. Three more Taurus launches from the site were made throughout the rest of the 1990s, carrying payloads for customers such as the United States Navy, the National Reconnaissance Office, and commercial customers like Orbcomm. The 2000s would prove to be a less welcoming period for Orbital and the pad, with three of the following five launches from LC-576E ending as failures, most notably with the 2009 launch of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory[6] and the 2011 launch of their Glory satellite.[7] Since 2011, the only launch made from LC-576E was on October 31, 2017, with Orbital ATK's (following Orbital's 2015 merger with Alliant Techsystems) rechristening of the Taurus as the Minotaur-C. As of the current moment, the pad is still listed as active for use by Minotaur-C, now tenanted by Northrop Grumman following their acquisition of Orbital ATK in 2018.
In the early 2020s, ABL Space Systems announced that they would be using LC-576E alongside Northrop Grumman for the launching of their RS1 rocket,[8] later complimenting launch sites leased at the Pacific Spaceport Complex, LC-15 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and SaxaVord Spaceport in the United Kingdom. However, following a failed launch and a preclusion of the RS1 at Kodiak,[9][10] ABL announced that they would be shifting their operations towards military applications,[11] leaving any expected presence by them at LC-576E in doubt.
Launch statistics
[edit]Gallery
[edit]-
A long-range shot of LC-576E with a Taurus on the pad, carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory. -
A Taurus-XL on LC-576E in 2011, carrying NASA's Glory satellite.
References
[edit]- ^ "Vandenberg ABRES". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on September 10, 2003.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Taurus / Minotaur-C". Retrieved May 26, 2014.
- ^ "ATLAS F". SiloWorld.
- ^ Roger Guillemette. "Atlas". U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ Jim Kirkpatrick. "Vandenberg Air Force Base".
- ^ Failure hits Nasa's 'CO2 hunter'
- ^ "NASA launch mishap: Satellite crashes into ocean". CBS. March 4, 2011.
- ^ SpaceRef (October 22, 2020). "ABL Space Systems performs integrated stage test of the RS1 launch vehicle". SpaceNews. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
- ^ Wattles, Jackie (January 11, 2023). "Start-up fails first launch as rocket explodes off Alaska's coast". CNN. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Foust, Jeff (July 23, 2024). "ABL loses rocket after static-fire test". SpaceNews. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ Berger, Eric (November 15, 2024). "As ABL Space departs launch, the 1-ton rocket wars have a clear winner". Ars Technica. Retrieved November 15, 2024.