Spaceport Florida Launch Complex 36

Launch Complex 36

An Atlas-Centaur at LC-36 prior to the launch of Pioneer 10
Launch site	CCAFS (1962-2010) Spaceport Florida (2010—)
Location	28°28′14″N 80°32′24″W / 28.47056°N 80.54000°W / 28.47056; -80.54000Coordinates: 28°28′14″N 80°32′24″W / 28.47056°N 80.54000°W / 28.47056; -80.54000
Short name	SLC-36
Operator	Space Florida Formerly:NASA US Air Force
Total launches	145
Launch pad(s)	2
Min / max orbital inclination	28° - 57°
(S)LC-36A launch history Status Inactive Launches 68 First launch 18 May 1962 Atlas LV-3C Centaur-A AC-1 Last launch 31 August 2004 Atlas IIAS / NROL-1 Associated rockets Atlas-Centaur Atlas I Atlas II (S)LC-36B launch history Status Inactive Launches 77 First launch 11 August 1965 Atlas LV-3C Centaur-D / Surveyor D-2 Last launch 3 February 2005 Atlas III / NROL-23 Associated rockets Atlas-Centaur Atlas I Atlas II Atlas III

Launch Complex 36 (LC-36)—formerly known as Space Launch Complex 36 (SLC-36) from 1997 to 2010—is a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Brevard County, Florida. It was used for Atlas launches by NASA and the US Air Force from 1962 until 2005.

Blue Origin has leased the launch site since 2015 in order to build a new launch site for launching Blue's orbital rockets. Orbital launches are expected to begin from LC36 no earlier than 2020, and the first launch vehicle slated to launch there is New Glenn, under development by Blue Origin since 2012.

Historically, the complex consisted of two launch pads, SLC-36A and SLC-36B, and was the launch site for the Pioneer, Surveyor, and Mariner probes in the 1960s and 1970s. There were a total of 68 and 77 launches from pads 36A and 36B, respectively, while the US government operated the launch complex in the first five decades of spaceflight.

The Atlas rockets launched from Complex 36 were subsequently replaced by the Atlas V launch vehicle which launches from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral beginning in 2002.

LC-36A was the scene of the biggest on-pad explosion in Cape history when Atlas-Centaur AC-5 fell back onto the pad on March 2, 1965. The accident spurred NASA to complete work on LC-36B which had been abandoned when it was 90% finished.

In 2008, Aviation Week magazine reported that the U.S. Air Force committed to lease Launch Complex 36 to Space Florida for future use by the Athena III launch system, but that program had not moved forward as late as 2013.