Vandenberg Launch Complex 576

Taurus rocket on LC-576E
Atlas ICBM sequence images of missile erection, fueling, and launch at Vandenberg AFB, California.

Launch Complex 576 is a group of rocket launch pads at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The pads were used from 1959 until 1971 to launch SM-65 Atlas missiles. The site was also known as Complex ABRES.[1] Pads in Area 576 include 576A-1, 576A-2 and 576A-3, 576B-1, 576B-2 and 576B-3, 576-C, 576-D, 576-E, OSTF-1 and OSTF-2.[2]

The first operational launch of an Atlas missile by the Strategic Air Command was conducted from 576A-2 by the 576th Strategic Missile Squadron on September 9, 1959. It impacted 4,480 nautical miles (8,300 km) away, near Wake Island.[3]

The first Atlas F launch at Vandenberg took place from 576-E on 1 August 1962.[4] Orbital Sciences Corporation now launches their Taurus rockets from 576-E.[5][6] The LC 576E is also a candidate site for launches of Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) boosters. The USAF and Missile Defense Agency anticipate a minimum of three KEI launches per year from 2009 to at least 2012.[6]

  1. ^ "Vandenberg ABRES". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 10 September 2003.
  2. ^ "VANDENBERG AFB - HOME OF THE 576th STRATEGIC MISSILE SQUADRON". SiloWorld.
  3. ^ "Vandenberg 576A-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008.
  4. ^ "ATLAS F". SiloWorld.
  5. ^ Jim Kirkpatrick. "Vandenberg Air Force Base".
  6. ^ a b Federal Register /Vol. 73, No. 245 / Friday, December 19, 2008 / Proposed Rules, page 77579 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.