Unmanned NASA Launches At Cape Canaveral
NASA's first launch, Pioneer 1, came on October 11, 1958 from Cape Canaveral's LC-17A using a Thor-Able booster. The civilian agency has used launch pads at Cape Canaveral AFS ever since for many unmanned launches ranging from satellites to lunar probes, including the Ranger, Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter programs during the 1960s.
NASA has also launched communications and weather satellites from Launch Complexes 40 and 41, built at the north end of the Cape in 1964 by the Air Force for its Titan IIIC and Titan IV rockets. From 1974–1977 the powerful Titan IIIE served as the heavy-lift vehicle for NASA, launching the Viking and Voyager series of planetary spacecraft and the Cassini–Huygens Saturn probe from LC-41.
NASA currently uses three Cape Canaveral pads: SLC-41 for the Atlas V and SLC-37B for the Delta IV, both for heavy payloads; and slc-40 for falcon 9 launches to the space station.
Launch Services Program (LSP) is responsible for NASA oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches at Cape Canaveral.
Read more about this topic: Kennedy Space Center
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