Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17

Space Launch Complex 17

Delta II rocket with the THEMIS spacecraft atop ready for launch on Pad 17B on February 16, 2007
Launch site	Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Location	28.446704°N 80.566022°W
Short name	SLC-17
Operator	US Air Force NASA
Total launches	325
Launch pad(s)	Two
Minimum / maximum orbital inclination	28°-57°
SLC-17A launch history
Status	Inactive
Launches	161
First launch	30 August 1957 PGM-17 Thor
Last launch	17 August 2009 Delta II / USA-206
Associated rockets	PGM-17 Thor Thor-Able Thor-Delta Thor DSV-2D Delta A/B/C/D/E/G/L/M/N Delta 2000 Delta 3000 Delta II 6000/7000
SLC-17B launch history
Status	Inactive
Launches	164
First launch	25 January 1957 PGM-17 Thor
Last launch	10 September 2011 Delta II / GRAIL
Associated rockets	PGM-17 Thor Thor-Ablestar Thor-Delta Thor DSV-2F Thor DSV-2G Delta A/B/C/E/G Delta 1000 Delta 2000 Delta 3000 Delta 4000 Delta II 6000/7000/H Delta III 8000

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17^[1][2] (SLC-17), previously designated Launch Complex 17 (LC-17), was a launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida used for Thor and Delta rocket launches between 1958 and 2011.

It was built in 1956 for use with the PGM-17 Thor missile, the first operational ballistic missile in the arsenal of the United States. More recently the launch complex has been used for vehicles in the Delta rocket family to launch probes to the Moon and planets, solar observatories and weather satellites.

SLC-17 features expendable launch vehicle (ELV) launch pads, 17A and 17B. The pads were operated by the US Air Force's 45th Space Wing and have supported more than 300 Department of Defense, NASA and commercial missile and rocket launches. Following the last military launch, in August 2009, SLC-17A was withdrawn from use, and SLC-17B was transferred to NASA for two remaining launches. As of 2010, the only launch which remained scheduled to use the complex is the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory in September 2011.

Pad 17A supported its first Thor missile launch on 3 August 1957, and Pad 17B supported its first Thor launch on 25 January 1957. The site was upgraded in the early 1960s to support a variety of more modern ELVs, which were derived from the basic Thor booster. The modern ELVs based on Thor came to be called the Delta family of rockets.

LC-17 showing pads A and B in 2007

Thirty-five early Delta rocket missions were launched from Complex 17 between the beginning of 1960 and the end of 1965. At that time the complex was operated by the Air Force. The Air Force transferred Complex 17 to NASA in 1965, but the site was returned to the Air Force in 1988 to support the Delta II program.

As Delta II launches continued over the next decade, Pad 17B was modified in 1997 to support a new, more powerful launch vehicle, the Delta III, which made its maiden flight from the complex on 26 August 1998. The launch ended in failure, as did a second launch the next year. After a third launch on 23 August 2000 placed a mass simulator into a lower than planned orbit, the program was abandoned.

Among the major NASA missions launched from the complex were the Explorer and Pioneer space probes, all of the Orbiting Solar Observatories, Solar Maximum, Biological Satellites (BIOS), Television Infrared Observations Satellites (TIROS) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES).

On 10 September 2011, a Delta II 7925H-10C made the final launch from Space Launch Complex 17, carrying NASA's GRAIL spacecraft.

Notes

1. ^ McDowell, Jonathan (1998-02-22). "Issue 350". Jonathan's Space Report. Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.350. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
2. ^ Table 3

References

• Lynda Warnock; Dennis Armstrong (20 May 2004). "MESSENGER Launch Pad Activities: About Launch Complex 17". NASA. http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elvnew/messenger/lc17.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-12. 

Coordinates: 28°26′48″N 80°33′58″W / 28.446704°N 80.566022°W / 28.446704; -80.566022