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Launch Complex 19 (LC-19) is a deactivated launch site on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. One of the eight pads considered part of Missile Row, it is most famous for being used as part of Project Gemini, being the launch site of all ten crewed missions in 1965 and 1966.[1] Additionally, it was used for tests of the HGM-25A Titan I in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[2]
History
Launch Complex 19 was originally built from 1957 to 1959 for the United States Air Force as part of the Titan I missile program, being used for test launches alongside LC-20 to the north and LC-15 and LC-16 to the south. The first launch out of the complex was made on August 14, 1959, when a Titan I exploded on the pad thanks to a premature engine shutdown after liftoff.[3] This extensively damaged LC-19, which took a few months to repair before the first successful flight occurred on February 2, 1960. Going from 1959 to 1962, the complex saw a total of 15 launches of the Titan I, all of them being suborbital flights and 12 of them being labeled as successes.
On January 29, 1962, the Air Force launched their final Titan I from LC-19, as the ICBM was slatted to get replaced by its hypergolic fueled successor, the LGM-25C Titan II. Unlike the previous era where all four Titan pads were used for missile tests, the military decided to only utilize LC-15 and 16 for that purpose at Cape Canaveral. Later in the year, NASA announced that they had chosen LC-19 to be the launch site of Project Gemini, of which its eponymous spacecraft would make use of a human-rated Titan II named the Titan II GLV.
As part of Gemini, the facility underwent various modifications to support crewed spaceflight. Most notably, the booster erector had a white room installed at the top in order to support the egress of astronauts. The first launch in this configuration (and the first orbital launch from the complex) occurred on April 8, 1964 for Gemini 1, an uncrewed mission that tested both the capsule's structural integrity and the flight-worthiness of the GLV. LC-19 joined LC-5 and LC-14 as the third pad at the Cape to support a crewed spaceflight with the launch of Gemini 3 on March 23, 1965, which carried Gus Grissom and John Young into low Earth orbit.
Throughout the entirety of the program, LC-19 was the site of all 12 of the 19 launches associated with Project Gemini (the other seven launching from LC-14), all 12 numbered missions, and all ten missions carrying astronauts.[4] Among the notable flights that started at the facility include the first American spacewalk with Gemini 4, the first close rendezvous with Gemini 7 and 6A, and the first docking with Gemini 8. Also noteworthy was Gemini 11, which set a non-Apollo distance record of 1,374 km (854 mi) from Earth that stood until Polaris Dawn in 2024. The final mission of the program that launched from the complex was Gemini 12, which launched on November 11, 1966 and carried Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin into orbit. Following the liftoff, LC-19 was deactivated from use and has sat dormant in the years since.
On May 30, 1977, the launch tower and umbilical used for supporting the Titan launches were demolished in order to prevent dangers associated with rusting. Additionally, LC-19 alongside the rest of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was designated as a National Historic Landmark in April 1984.[4] The booster erector remained in place until its dismantlement in August 2003, though the white room was partially restored and relocated to the Air Force Space and Missile Museum (now Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum) situated at the sites of LC-26, LC-5, and LC-6.[5]
Currently, LC-19 is the only complex in Missile Row that has not previously been leased to a NewSpace company, and is currently sandwiched between Firefly Aerospace's lease of SLC-20 and Relativity Space's presence at LC-16. However, the United States Space Force has made intentions of leasing the pad out in the near future.[6]
Launch history
Gallery
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Diagram of Complex 19. -
Diagram of the blockhouse at Complex 19. -
LC-19 white room is in the right background, on display at the Air Force Space and Missile Museum. -
The erector is lowered in preparation for the launch of Gemini 5.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Cohort Program - Step Level 2" (PDF). NASA Safety Center. NASA. 20 February 2018. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ "Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum". ccspacemuseum.org. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ "Cape Canaveral LC19". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ a b "LAUNCH COMPLEX 19 FACT SHEET | Spaceline". Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ "Launch Complex 19". heroicrelics.org. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ "NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 Industry Day". Space and Missile Systems Center. 20 August 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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