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Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6, pronounced "Slick Six") is a
launch pad A launch pad is an above-ground facility from which a rocket-powered missile or space vehicle is vertically launched. The term ''launch pad'' can be used to describe just the central launch platform (mobile launcher platform), or the entire c ...
and associated support infrastructure at
Vandenberg Space Force Base Vandenberg Space Force Base , previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the ...
in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Construction at the site began in 1966, but the first launch didn't occur until 1995 due to program cancellations and subsequent repurposing efforts. The site was originally envisioned to support Titan IIIM rockets and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, however, these projects were terminated before SLC-6's completion. Between 1979 and 1986 the facilities received extensive modifications to accommodate the
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
. However, budgetary constraints, safety considerations, and political factors ultimately led to the cancellation of Shuttle operations from the West Coast. SLC-6 facilitated four launches of
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
rockets between 1995 and 1999 with minimal modifications. Subsequently, it underwent modifications to support the
Delta IV Delta IV was a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta rocket family. It flew 45 missions from 2002 to 2024. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) p ...
and
Delta IV Heavy The Delta IV Heavy (Delta 9250H) was an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle, the largest type of the Delta IV family. It had the highest capacity of any operational launch vehicle in the world after the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 20 ...
, which conducted ten successful missions between 2006 and 2022. In 2023, SpaceX secured a lease agreement for SLC-6, with plans to modify the facility for
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...
and
Falcon Heavy Falcon Heavy is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket consists of a center core ...
launches commencing in 2025. Vandenberg's southward launch trajectory is advantageous for deploying satellites into high-inclination polar and Sun-synchronous orbits, needed for weather forecasting, Earth observation, and reconnaissance missions as they enable comprehensive and regular global coverage. Launching into such orbits from the East Coast of the United States presents significant challenges due to geographical constraints.


History

SLC-6, part of Vandenberg's "South Base," was originally part of the Sudden Ranch, prior to its purchase by the U.S. Air Force in the mid-1960s under the law of
eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...
. In addition to the ranch, the Point Arguello Light was based there, which in 1967 was replaced by an automated light. There was also the Point Arguello
LORAN LORAN (Long Range Navigation) was a hyperbolic navigation, hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee (navigation), Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order ...
station, de-established 31 December 1979.


Titan (1966–1969)

No
Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...
were launched from SLC-6. After purchase of south base, the Air Force started construction of the SLC-6 facility on 12 March 1966, to support launches of a Titan IIIM for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). After significant construction work was completed, the MOL program was cancelled on 10 June 1969, so further work on SLC-6 stopped as the facility was placed in
mothball Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant, sometimes used when storing clothing and other materials susceptible to damage from silverfish, Mold (fungus), mold or moth larvae (especially clothes moths like ''Tineola bissell ...
status.


Space Shuttle (1972–1989)

No Space shuttles were launched from SLC-6. With plans of launching civilian and military equatorial space shuttle flights from
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...
(KSC) and military polar orbit flights from Vandenberg,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
and the Air Force looked at different sites for launching the shuttle, finally deciding upon SLC-6, due to its dedicated crewed spaceflight role that was left over from the canceled MOL/Titan program. In 1972, Vandenberg AFB was chosen as the western launch site for Air Force shuttle launches. Use of SLC-6 was approved in 1975, and re-construction of the former MOL launch facility occurred between January 1979 and July 1986 as SLC-6 was rebuilt to accommodate the space shuttle. There were several reasons for using SLC-6: *Florida shuttle launches to polar orbit would have entailed a large payload penalty; *Florida shuttle launches to polar orbit would necessitate overflying
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
, and the discarded external tank would overfly
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, and *Use of the existing and partially constructed Titan III facilities at SLC-6 would reduce building costs for the shuttle launch complex. A Senate report summarized: "The Air Force originally justified the expenditure of such SLC-6 funding on the basis of a need to launch high-priority military payloads into polar orbits. After Defense Department officials testified that polar orbits could not be achieved by launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Congress initiated construction of ... SLC-6." There were significant layout differences between the shuttle launch complexes at KSC and SLC-6 at Vandenberg, with the facilities at KSC closer together, but with stacking operations taking place right at the launch pad at SLC-6 At KSC, the Shuttle arrived at the
Shuttle Landing Facility The Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), also known as Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) , is an airport located on Merritt Island, Florida, Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Kennedy ...
airport either by gliding in from space or piggybacking on the
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters. One (N905NA) is a 747-100 model, while the other (N911NA) is a short-range 747-100SR. Both are now retired. ...
and then being unloaded using the
Mate-Demate Device The Mate-Demate Device was a specialized gantry crane designed to lift a Space Shuttle orbiter onto and off the back of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). Two Mate-Demate Devices were built, one at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in Californi ...
. From there, it was towed a short distance to one of three
Orbiter Processing Facility Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) is a class of hangars where U.S. Space Shuttle orbiters underwent maintenance between flights. They are located west of the Vehicle Assembly Building, where the orbiter was mated with its external tank and Space ...
hangars where it was refurbished. When the orbiter was ready, it was towed across the road to the
Vehicle Assembly Building The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Satu ...
where it was stacked atop a mobile launcher platform. From there, the vehicle was taken to one of two pads at
Launch Complex 39 Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built as the Apollo program's ...
about a mile away by a
crawler-transporter The crawler-transporters, formally known as the Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities, are a pair of tracked vehicles used to transport launch vehicles from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) along the Crawlerway to Launch Complex 39. The ...
. At the launch pad, the Rotating Service Structure allowed payloads to be loaded into the cargo bay on the pad. At SLC-6, the existing runway at the North Base was expanded to match the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida: in length with additional overruns on both ends to accommodate end-of-mission landings. Just off the runway, was the Orbiter Lifting Fixture, a scaled-down version of the Mate-Demate Device, and the Orbiter Maintenance and Processing Facility (OMPF) where the Shuttle would be refurbished. When the orbiter was ready, the Orbiter Transport System, a 76-wheel transporter would have been used to transport the shuttle between the North Base facilities and SLC-6 over of base and public roadways. The route through the hills around the base required that hills be carved away along of the route to accommodate the orbiter’s wingspan. At the launch pad, two buildings, the Shuttle Assembly Building and the Mobile Service Tower would envelop the access tower allowing the spacecraft to be stacked right on the launch pad. In all, over $4 billion were spent on the modifying SLC-6 for the Space Shuttle. The original Mobile Service Tower (MST) was lowered in height and two new flame ducts were added for the shuttle's solid rocket boosters. Additional modifications or improvements included liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen storage tanks, a payload preparation room, payload changeout room, a new launch tower with escape system for the shuttle crew members, sound suppression system and water reclamation area and a Shuttle Assembly Building were added to the original complex. Between November 1984 and May 1985, the was mated with External Tank and SRBs in boilerplate configuration for a series of fit checks like those conducted at LC-39. SLC-6 was declared operational during acceptance ceremonies held on 15 October 1985. However, much additional work and testing was still required. The inaugural polar-orbit flight, designated STS-62-A and using with Shuttle veteran Robert Crippen as commander, was planned for 15 October 1986. However, the ''Challenger'' disaster of 28 January 1986 grounded the Shuttle fleet as efforts were concentrated on recovery and returning the program to flight after a two-year hiatus. On 31 July 1986, Secretary of the Air Force Edward C. Aldridge, Jr., announced that Vandenberg's Space Shuttle program would be placed in "operational caretaker status", six months after the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' accident. A few months later, however, SLC-6 was placed in "minimum caretaker status" on 20 February 1987. Eventually, on 13 May 1988, Secretary Aldridge then directed the Air Force to transfer Space Shuttle assets at Vandenberg to other organizations (specifically, the Kennedy Space Center) by 30 September 1989, the end of the fiscal year. The work was completed 10 days early on 20 September, when SLC-6 was placed in mothball status. Several factors accounted for this: * The ''Challenger'' disaster made it clear that sole dependency on the shuttle was unwise * SLC-6 would have generated more contaminated waste water than originally envisioned, necessitating an expensive treatment plant * Further study showed more sound suppression water would have been needed, requiring upgraded water supply facilities * Vehicle icing (which contributed to the ''Challenger'' disaster) would have been more problematic than in Florida, and it was unclear how well SLC-6 facilities would handle that * Blast protection of nearby occupied buildings was unsatisfactory and more construction would have been required to safeguard them * Post-''Challenger'', the more confined SLC-6 launch area raised concerns of entrapped gaseous hydrogen causing a fire or explosion * Large construction cost overruns * Independent audits found significant construction quality problems that would have been expensive to fix The Air Force officially terminated the Space Shuttle program at Vandenberg on 26 December 1989. The estimated cost for the discontinued program was $4 billion. The Orbiter Lifting Fixture was relocated to United States Air Force Plant 42 where the orbiters were built and refurbished in
Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On August 24, 1962 ...
, before the delivery of the in 1991. Previously, the orbiters were trucked to Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, about away, which took about 10 hours. The Orbiter Lifting Fixture was dismantled in 2008. The Orbiter Transport System was sent to KSC where it was used to move orbiters between the Orbiter Processing Facility and the Vehicle Assembly Building. The vehicle was purchased by SpaceX in 2014 for $37,075.


Titan IV (1990–1991)

On 6 July 1990, Lockheed Space Operations Company (LSOC) was awarded an Air Force ground system contract to modify SLC-6 into a Titan IV/
Centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
launch complex—essentially an uprated facility from the original MOL program that would have launched a Titan III vehicle. Site work was scheduled to begin in late-FY 1992 with a planned initial launch capability sometime in FY1996. However, on 22 March 1991, HQ USAF reversed itself again by announcing the termination of the Titan IV/Centaur program at SLC-6. The reasons given for the project being canceled was due to "insufficient Titan IV launch requirements from the West Coast to support the construction of a new launch pad." The contract with LSOC was closed out several months later. Instead, USAF continued flying military polar orbit satellites using the Titan 34D and later Titan IV rockets from
SLC-4E Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4) is a launch and landing site at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, U.S. It has two pads, both of which are used by SpaceX for Falcon 9, one for launch operations, and the other as Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) for S ...
at Vandenberg.


Athena (1994–1999)

Four
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
missions flew from SLC-6, from 1995 to 1999. In the early 1990s, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company began studies on the prospect of a new family of small launch vehicles for commercial and other users. Lockheed eventually approved the development of the ''Lockheed Launch Vehicle'' (LLV) program in January 1993. After the merger of Lockheed with
Martin Marietta The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Marie ...
, it was renamed ''
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
.'' After another contract was issued in 1994 by the Air Force, modification work began on the existing SLC-6 shuttle launch mount for a small "milkstool" platform to be located over one of the two exhaust ducts originally intended for one of the large solid rocket boosters. The first operational launch from SLC-6 occurred on 15 August 1995, involving the Lockheed-Martin Launch Vehicle I (LMLV-1). Unfortunately, LMLV-1 was terminated in mid-flight after uncontrolled oscillations of the rocket were detected. This resulted in the loss of the vehicle and the payload. The cause of the mishap was later determined to be a guidance system failure coupled with overheating of the booster's first stage steering mechanism. The payload on board was GEMstar 1, a small communications satellite manufactured by CTA, Inc. for the Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA), a non-profit organization. After some hardware redesign and testing, a newly rechristened ''Athena I'' successfully launched NASA's Lewis satellite into orbit from SLC-6 on 22 August 1997. Part of NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Initiative (SSTI) and "Mission to Planet Earth" program. Another launch, on 24 September 1999, was successful as an '' Ikonos'' satellite operated by Space Imaging (later acquired by ORBIMAGE to form
GeoEye GeoEye Inc. (formerly Orbital Imaging Corporation, or ORBIMAGE) was an American commercial satellite imagery company based in Herndon, Virginia. GeoEye was merged into the DigitalGlobe corporation on January 29, 2013. The company was founded i ...
) was successfully placed into a polar orbit using an Athena 2 booster.


Delta IV (1999–2022)

Ten Delta IV rockets were launched from SLC-6. With the advent of the Delta IV in the late 1990s,
The Boeing Company The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
received a lease from the Air Force on 1 September 1999, to modify SLC-6 once again to launch Boeing's
Delta IV Delta IV was a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta rocket family. It flew 45 missions from 2002 to 2024. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) p ...
. Some of the Shuttle-specific components at SLC-6 were removed, such as the mobile Payload Changeout Room, but the Assembly Building, Mobile Service Tower, Launch Tower, flame deflection trenches and sound suppression system and some other shuttle-oriented equipment were retained and made compatible for the new Delta IV rocket. The launch vehicle's Common Booster Core and associated flight hardware was transported from the Boeing factory in Decatur, Ala., to Vandenberg aboard the cargo vessel that docked just south of SLC-6 at the same location originally constructed for receiving and offloading space shuttle external tanks. Boeing developed the Delta IV class of vehicles as its entrant in the Department of Defense's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. EELV was intended to cut launch costs and simplify satellite launch processes. After sitting on the pad since late-2003 and enduring technical issues with both the booster and the payload, the first of the Delta IV launch vehicles to fly from SLC-6 successfully lifted off at 8:33 p.m. PDT on 27 June 2006. The Delta IV Medium+ (4,2) rocket lofted NROL-22, a classified satellite for the
National Reconnaissance Office The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. f ...
, into orbit. The payload was successfully deployed approximately 54 minutes later. According to a post-launch Boeing News press release, the mission was the first for the NRO aboard a Delta IV and the second aboard a Delta rocket. Another Delta IV Medium vehicle flew a mission for the Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, orbiting DMSP-17, on 4 November 2006. The Delta IV and the lease on SLC-6 were turned over to
United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance, LLC (ULA) is an American launch service provider formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The company designs, assembles, sells and launches rockets ...
(ULA) when ULA was formed as a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Space in December 2006. On 20 January 2011, at 1:10 p.m. PST, USA-224 (NROL-49) was launched atop a
Delta IV Heavy The Delta IV Heavy (Delta 9250H) was an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle, the largest type of the Delta IV family. It had the highest capacity of any operational launch vehicle in the world after the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 20 ...
rocket. The launch was conducted by ULA and was the first flight of a Delta IV Heavy from Vandenberg. On 24 September 2022, ULA launched the last Delta IV Heavy from the pad, concluding their use of SLC-6.
Vulcan Centaur Vulcan Centaur is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed and operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). It is a two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle consisting of the Vulcan first stage and the Centaur second stage. Replacing ULA's Atlas V and Del ...
, Delta IV Heavy's successor, will launch from the
Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launch vehicle family. It was developed by Lockheed Martin and has been operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2006. Primarily used to ...
's old pad of SLC-3E at Vandenberg.


SpaceX (from 2023)

On 24 April 2023, the
United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...
announced that it was leasing SLC-6 to
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
for
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...
and
Falcon Heavy Falcon Heavy is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket consists of a center core ...
launches. Prior to its leasing, there was interest among other companies for control over the pad thanks to its large size, most notably by
Blue Origin Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is an American space technology company headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company operates the suborbital New Shepard rocket and the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. In addition to producing engines for its own ...
for their
New Glenn New Glenn is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed and operated by the American company Blue Origin. The rocket is designed to have a Reusable launch vehicle, partially reusable, two-stage design with a diameter of . The first stage is powered ...
orbital launch vehicle. SpaceX's intentions with the operation of SLC-6 would be using it as a secondary pad at Vandenberg, complimenting their existing facility at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) in a similar method to how LC-39A and SLC-40 are used at Cape Canaveral. As part of modifications to the pad, plans call for the demolition of most existing Shuttle and Delta IV-era infrastructure, replacing them with a traditional horizontal integration facility and transporter erector setup as seen at SpaceX's other pads. Since the lease, they have started preparing the launch pad for this reconfiguration, with construction slated to commence in late 2025.


Launch history


Statistics


List of launches

All Athena launches operated by
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
. All launches in 2006 operated by
Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
. All launches from 2011 to 2022 operated by
United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance, LLC (ULA) is an American launch service provider formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The company designs, assembles, sells and launches rockets ...
.


References


External links


Boeing Media Kit for Delta IV Launch of NROL-22

History/Chronology of Vandenberg AFB


* ttp://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=645 LighthouseFriends.com - Point Arguello
Space Shuttle SLC-6 Chronology (in French)
- Capcomespace.net

- featuring space photography o
William G. Hartenstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandenberg SFB Space Launch Complex 6 Vandenberg Space Force Base Launch complexes of the United States Space Force