Vandenberg AFB Launch Complex 576
Coordinates: 34°44′22″N 120°37′09″W / 34.73944°N 120.61917°W
Launch Complex 576, also known as Area 576, is a group of rocket launch pads at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The pads at the complex were used from 1959 until 1971 to launch SM-65 Atlas missiles. The site was also known as Complex ABRES. Pads in Area 576 include 576-A-1,2,3, 576-B-1,2,3, 576-C, 576-D, 576-E, OSTF-1 and OSTF-2.
The first operational launch of an Atlas missile by the Strategic Air Command was conducted from 576-A-2 by the 576th Strategic Missile Squadron on September 9, 1959. It impacted 4,480 nautical miles (8,300 km) away, near Wake Island.
The first Atlas F launch at Vandenberg took place from 576-E on August 1, 1962.Orbital Sciences Corporation now launches their Taurus rockets from 576-E. 576-E is also a candidate site for launches of Kinetic Energy Interceptor boosters. The USAF and Missile Defense Agency anticipate a minimum of three KEI launches per year from 2009 to at least 2012.
The first pad in the complex, 576-A2, hosted the inaugural Atlas launch from the West Coast when Missile 12D flew a successful 1100 mile (1800 km) arc across the Pacific Ocean) on September 9, 1959. On March 5, 1960, Atlas 19D exploded on 576-A2 while undergoing a fuel-loading exercise. The pad was severely damaged, but since 576-A3 had come online two months earlier, it was decided that one pad was adequate for the Atlas D launching schedule at VAFB and thus 576-A2 was not rebuilt. The site lay empty until 1965 when it was converted for the Atlas F and hosted 13 ABRES and OV-1 launches.
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