“Missile Row” pads at Cape Canaveral returning to action

nasaspaceflight.com ^ | March 28, 2022 | William Graham

[BenLurkin]

A hub for rocketry research and development in its early days, the Cape served as a test center not just for spaceflight and research but also for the US missile development programs...and along the eastern coastline, the iconic “missile row” of Atlas and Titan launch complexes dominated the skyline.

Many of the Cape’s launch facilities have long since fallen silent, but with newcomers Firefly and Relativity preparing for their first launches from Cape Canaveral, the sight of rockets lifting off along the “row” is about to return.

The eight launch pads that made up the core of what is unofficially known as missile row, or “ICBM row,” were built in the 1950s to support testing of the Atlas and Titan missiles, each of which required four launch complexes. At the southern end, Launch Complex 11 (LC-11) was built about a kilometer north of Cape Canaveral’s original launch pads, which were then in their final years of service with the Snark, Bomarc, and X-17 missiles.

Missile Row followed the coastline northwest from LC-11, with Launch Complexes 12, 13, and 14 serving the Atlas. It then continued with the four Titan pads, Launch Complexes 15, 16, 19, and 20. Launch Complexes 17 and 18 were not part of Missile Row, but instead were built on the south part of Cape Canaveral for the Thor missile and Vanguard launch vehicle respectively.

The Atlas and Titan pads were spaced at distances a little over 610 meters (2,000 feet) apart, forming a line along the coast. In their heyday it would not have been uncommon to see several missiles standing tall, waiting for their turns to launch. Missile testing from the row ended in 1964, although Atlas and Titan rockets continued to use the pads in support of orbital launches and suborbital research programs.

[metmom]

Things that make you wonder…….

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Wow, I had no idea the whole launch complex was that huge! As a kid in the 50s and 60s, we always heard about Cape Canaveral, but I never thought that it might entail more than a couple of launch pads.

Thanks for posting.

[algore]

no wonderment, they already know that the SLS is crap and is more likely than not to fail really badly, just like that Cadillac SLS with their ‘NorthStar’ engine

I have seen this many times before.

Anyone remember this old ford aerostar commercial
https://youtu.be/MHPD2WWqIS0?t=10

[Whatever Works]

Those were my dad’s complexes. He died at the age of 93, a few years ago. I will follow with this with interest.

[AndyJackson]

Back in the days when white privilege meant you tried to do stuff.

[alternatives?]

Would you expect the government to build just two? /s

[libertylover]

I was offered a job there once. The proposed salary was low, and it must’ve been near 20 miles to the nearest house.

[montag813]

We need space more than ever. Makind has utterly failed at everything. The signs and symbols (and prices) of that failure is all around us.

[metmom]

No, I don’t remember that, but boy has TV and advertising changed.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I was 7 years old at the time. That’s what I thought!

[null and void]

The eight launch pads that made up the core of what is unofficially known as missile row, or “ICBM row,”

Or VERY unofficially as "IBRM row" as in Into the Banana River Missile...

[TangoLimaSierra]

Wonder why it wasn't called Rocket Row.
You know, since they launch rockets. Sounds cooler, too.

[ETCM]

Nah, NASA needs more child slaves on Mars so they’re ramping up the slave ship launchers. /alexjones

[nvskibum]

I recall that during the wild and wooly days of high failure rates, the Banana River was referred to as “Snark infested waters.”

That did not make me particularly proud of my red Revell kit Snark missile model. Even as a kid, that particular design looked useless.

[SES1066]

It is interesting to compare the launch of the Mercury Missions to the later manned launches. The Mercury Atlas & Titan boosters were placed on a very-slightly raised holder over a flat concrete pad. At launch you would see the flame scorching the concrete like a blowtorch. It was a real learning experience in action as we watched the changes made. Soon came the launch exhaust channels, then the flame pits and the water-baths and all of that impressive structure that we see today.