The Operational Silo Test Facility (OSTF) is a former

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

launch facility 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 ...

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 ...

, United States. It was a developmental launch site for the silo-based

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

and

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

missile series. The site was originally constructed for

Titan I The Martin Marietta SM-68A/HGM-25A Titan I was the United States' first multistage intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in use from 1959 until 1962. Though the SM-68A was operational for only three years, it spawned numerous follow-on mode ...

tests. On 12 December 1960, a fully fueled Titan was lifted to the surface in preparation for launch when the silo elevator collapsed. The missile fell back down into the silo and exploded, damaging the facility so badly that it was abandoned. The first launch of a silo-based missile would take place to the northwest inside the Silo Launch Test Facility (SLTF). The OSTF complex also included silos for launching

Atlas E The SM-65E Atlas, or Atlas-E, was an operational variant of the SM-65 Atlas, Atlas missile. It first flew on October 11, 1960, and was deployed as an operational ICBM from September 1961 until April 1966. Following retirement as an ICBM, the Atl ...

and F missiles; coffin types for the former and elevator types for the latter. Atlas testing began rather ignominiously when Missile 27E exploded at liftoff on 7 June 1961, putting OSTF-1 (also designated Site F or 576 Foxtrot) out of use for seven months. The facility went on to host another nine Atlas E launches before being decommissioned in 1966. Operational tests were designed as practice drills for ballistic missile crews and also engineering tests of the missile and silo equipment—they would travel to Vandenberg Air Force Base and launch a randomly selected missile from the inventory, which was then equipped with telemetry and Range Safety destruct packages. Some launches tested reentry vehicles or Nike-Zeus target missiles. OSTF-2 (also designated Site G or 576 Golf) hosted seven Atlas F launches between 1962 and 1965. This facility received its own baptism of fire on 4 October 1963 when Missile 45F tipped over at liftoff after one engine failed to start. Damage to the silo was not that serious and it hosted the final Atlas R&D flight two months later. Then on 2 April 1964, a repeat disaster happened when Missile 3F failed in virtually identical fashion to 45F. This time OSTF-2 was not used again for six months, after which it hosted the finale Atlas ICBM test, Missile 106F, on 8 January 1965 and was then decommissioned from service.

Gallery

File:Titan I missile emerges from its silo at Vandenberg Operational System Test Facility in 1960.jpg, Titan I missile emerges from the silo in 1960 File:Atlas Negative Collection Image (21062931484) (2).jpg, OSTF-2 Platform Launcher in October 1960 File:Atlas Negative Collection Image (21617844562).jpg, Raising Atlas 3F at OSTF-2 in September 1961 File:Atlas ICBM Launch--'64E; 12-22-62; OSTF-1; 10-9030; 157 (note- neg fogged) (15908526150).jpg, Atlas 64E launch from OSTF-1 in December 1962 File:Atlas-F.jpg, Atlas 3F at OSTF-2 prior to failed launch attempt in April 1964 File:Titan I Operational Silo Test Facility 01.jpg, Operational Silo Test Facility in 2014 File:Titan I Operational Silo Test Facility 02.jpg, Operational Silo Test Facility in 2014 File:Titan I Operational Silo Test Facility 03.jpg, Operational Silo Test Facility in 2014

References

Bibliography

External links

Vandenberg Space Force Base Launch complexes of the United States Space Force 1960 establishments in California {{space-stub