Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 41

Infobox Launch Pad
name = Launch Complex 41

---

caption =An aerial view of LC-41. The Atlas V on the pad is the one used to launch New Horizons to Pluto.
site = Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
location =28°35'N
80°34'58"W
short = LC-41
operator = US Air Force
tlaunches = 38
pads = 1
inclination = 28° - 57°
status = Active
first = Titan IIIC, 21 December 1965 (multiple payloads)
last = ICO G1, 14 April 2008
rockets = Titan III
Titan IV
Atlas V (current)

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 41 (LC-41) is an active Launch Site at Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The site is currently used by United Launch Alliance, for Atlas V launches. Previously, it had been used by the US Air Force, for Titan III and Titan IV launches.

The first launch from LC-41 was a Titan IIIC, carrying four separate payloads, on December 21, 1965.

In addition to satellites, several probes were launched from LC-41 in the 1970s, including the Helios probes to the Sun, the Viking probes to Mars, and the Voyager planetary flyby and deep space probes. More recent probes have also been launched from LC-41 using the Atlas V - The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in December 2004, and the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto in January 2006.

LC-41 also was the pad used for the maiden flight of the Titan IV. The last Titan launch was on April 9, 1999, when a Titan IVB launched the USA 142 early warning satellite. This launch resulted in a failure, after the IUS upper stage failed to separate, leaving the payload stranded in a useless GTO orbit. The complex was then renovated, and is now used by ULA for Atlas V launches.

ee also

*List of Merritt Island launch sites
*Merritt Island
*Atlas V
*Titan III
*Titan IV

External links

* [http://www.ilslaunch.com/atlas/atlasv/ ILS Atlas V website]