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Space Launch Complex 17

The first stage of the Boeing Delta II rocket, which launched NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), is lifted into a vertical position for installation into the mobile service tower at Pad 17B
Launch site	Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Location	28.446704°N 80.566022°W
Short name	SLC-17
Operator	NASA
Total launches	TBC
Launch pad(s)	2
Minimum / maximum orbital inclination	28°-57°
SLC-17A launch history
Status	Inactive
Launches	161
First launch	Thor, 30 August 1957
Last launch	GPS IIR-21, 17 August 2009
Associated rockets	Thor Delta Delta II
SLC-17B launch history
Status	Active
Launches	TBC
First launch	Thor, 25 January 1957
Last launch	STSS Demo[1], 25 September 2009
Associated rockets	Thor Delta Delta II (current) Delta III

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17^[2][3] (SLC-17), previously Launch Complex 17 (LC-17) is a launch site on Cape Canaveral, Florida.

It was first built in 1956 for use with the PGM-17 Thor missile, the first operational ballistic missile in the arsenal of the United States. More recently the launch complex has been used for vehicles in the Delta rocket family to launch probes to the Moon and planets, solar observatories and weather satellites.

LC-17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station features two active expendable launch vehicle (ELV) launch pads, 17-A and 17-B. The pads are run by the US Air Force's 45th Space Wing and have supported more than 300 Department of Defense, NASA and commercial missile and rocket launches. Pad 17-A supported its first Thor missile launch on 3 August 1957, and Pad 17-B supported its first Thor launch on 25 January 1957. The site was upgraded in the early 1960s to support a variety of more modern Expendable Launch Vehicles, which were derived from the basic Thor booster. The modern ELVs based on Thor came to be called the Delta family of rockets.

Thirty-five early Delta rocket missions were launched from Complex 17 between the beginning of 1960 and the end of 1965. At that time the complex was run by the Air Force. The Air Force transferred Complex 17 to NASA in 1965, but the site was returned to the Air Force in 1988 to support the Delta II program.

As Delta II launches continued over the next decade, Pad 17-B was modified in 1997 to support a new, more powerful launch vehicle, the Delta III. The Delta III made its first successful launch debut on Pad 17-B 23 August 2000.

Among the major NASA missions launched from the complex were the Explorer and Pioneer space probes, all of the Orbiting Solar Observatories, Solar Maximum, Biological Satellites (BIOS), Television Infrared Observations Satellites (TIROS) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES).

References

Lynda Warnock; Dennis Armstrong (20 May 2004). "MESSENGER Launch Pad Activities: About Launch Complex 17". NASA. http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elvnew/messenger/lc17.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-12.  

External links

Coordinates: 28°26′48″N 80°33′58″W / 28.446704°N 80.566022°W / 28.446704; -80.566022