Titan IIID / 34D (1971–1988) Date/Time ( GMT)įirst stage propellant leak leading to turbopump failure and RSO destruct Premature sustainer shutdown due to electrical malfunction. Launch history Statistics Ītlas (1964–1967) Date/Time ( GMT)įirst and only nuclear reactor powered American satellite. As the pad was nearing completion in February 2013, the first launch was scheduled for summer 2013, but was delayed until September 2013. īy late 2012, SpaceX anticipated that the initial launch from the Vandenberg pad would be in 2013, with the larger variant Falcon 9 v1.1. Demolition began on the pad's fixed and mobile service towers in summer 2011. The draft environmental impact assessment with a finding of "no significant impact" was published in February 2011. SpaceX refurbished SLC–4E for Falcon 9 launches in a 24-month process that began in early 2011. Inaugural mission of the Falcon 9 v1.1 from SLC-4E in September 2013 Falcon 9 Following this launch, the complex was deactivated, having been used for 68 launches. On 19 October 2005, the last flight of a Titan rocket occurred, when a Titan IVB was launched from SLC-4E, with an Improved Crystal satellite. The last Titan variant to use the complex was the Titan IV, starting on 8 March 1991, with the launch of Lacrosse 2. Final Titan IV launch from SLC-4E in 2005 Titan IV 16 months after the accident, the pad was back in commission when it hosted a successful launch of a KH-11 satellite. The enormous blast showered the launch complex with debris and toxic propellant (hydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide), resulting in extensive damage. SLC-4E hosted one of the most dramatic launch accidents in US history when a Titan 34D-9 carrying a KH-9 photoreconnaissance satellite exploded a few hundred feet above the pad on 18 April 1986. Seven Titan 34Ds were launched between 20 June 1983, and 6 November 1988. The complex was then refurbished to accommodate the Martin Marietta Titan 34D. All 22 Titan IIIDs were launched from SLC-4E, with the last occurring on 17 November 1982. The first KH-11 Kennan satellite was launched from the complex on 19 December 1976. The Titan IIID made its maiden flight from SLC-4E on 15 June 1971, launching the first KH-9 Hexagon satellite. Titan IIID launch from SLC-4E Titan IIID ĭuring 1971 the complex was reactivated and refurbished for use by the Martin Marietta Titan III launch vehicles. After 27 Atlas-Agena launches, the last of which was on 4 June 1967, the complex was deactivated. The first launch from PALC2-4 occurred on 14 August 1964, when a KH-7 satellite was launched by an Atlas-Agena D. That pad was later named by SpaceX as Landing Zone 4 and first used operationally for a Falcon 9 booster landing in 2018. SpaceX began a five-year lease of Launch Complex 4 West in February 2015 in order to use that area as a landing pad to bring back VTVL return-to-launch-site (RTLS) first-stage boosters of the reusable Falcon 9 launch vehicle. SLC-4E is leased as a launch site for the Falcon 9 rocket, which first flew from Vandenberg on 29 September 2013, following a 24-month refurbishment program which had started in early 2011. īoth pads at Space Launch Complex 4 are currently leased by SpaceX. The designation SLC-4 was applied at the time of the conversion to launch Titan launch vehicles. Both pads were built for use by Atlas-Agena rockets, but were later rebuilt to handle Titan rockets. It consisted of two launch pads, SLC-4W and SLC-4E, which were formerly designated PALC-2-3 and PALC-2-4 respectively. ![]() The complex was previously used by Atlas and Titan rockets between 19. ![]() It has two pads, both of which are used by SpaceX for Falcon 9, one for launch operations, and other as Landing Zone 4 ( LZ-4) for SpaceX landings. Space Launch Complex 4 ( SLC-4) is a launch and landing site at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, U.S.
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