SpaceportDB

Retired 🇺🇸United States

Space Launch Complex 3W

A launch pad at Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA.81 launches have flown from it since October 1960, 74 of 81 successfully.

Launches
81
Success rate
91.4% 74/81
Failures
7
First flight
1960-10-11
Latest flight
1995-03-24
Busiest year
1965 6 flights
Fastest turnaround
17d 21h 7m

Location

Space Launch Complex 3W

Pad record

Coordinates
34.6440° N
120.5930° W
Map
Open in Google Maps
Status
Retired
Spaceport
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Country
United States
Pad operator
United States Air Force
LL2 pad tally
81 upstream count
Reference
Wikipedia

About this pad

SLC-3W was originally built for Atlas-Agena launches and the first flight off the pad was the launch of Samos 1 on October 11, 1960. The facility was extensively damaged 11 months later when Samos 3's booster exploded on the pad, but it was repaired quickly and hosted its next launch slightly under two months afterwards. In 1962-63, the pad was converted for Thor-Agena use and was the primary launching site for Corona reconnaissance satellites for the next decade. After the Corona program ended in 1972, SLC-3W was converted back to support Atlases, this time flights of refurbished Atlas E/F missiles. The final such launch took place in 1995. SpaceX initially planned to use SLC-3W for the Falcon 1 launch vehicle but switched to SLC-4E with Falcon 9.

Vehicles flown

17 types
Thor SLV-2A Agena D 18Atlas E 15Thorad SLV-2H Agena D 11Atlas Agena B 8Thorad SLV-2G Agena D 8Atlas F 5Atlas E/SGS-2 4Atlas F/MSD 3Atlas Agena A 1Atlas E Altair 1Atlas E/MSD 1Atlas E/OIS 1Atlas F/Agena D 1Atlas F/OIS 1Atlas F/PTS 1Atlas F/SVS 1Thor SLV-2 Agena D 1

Launches per year

decided flights
1960Peak 1965, 6 launches1995

Orbits delivered

5 destinations
Low Earth Orbit 47Sun-Synchronous Orbit 12Geostationary Orbit 7Medium Earth Orbit 6Polar Orbit 6

Flight record

81 flights
DateMissionVehicleOperatorOrbitOutcome
1995-03-24Atlas E | DMSP-5D2 F13Atlas E–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1994-12-30Atlas E | NOAA 14Atlas E–Geostationary OrbitSuccess
1994-08-29Atlas E | DMSP-5D2 F12Atlas E–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1993-08-09Atlas E | NOAA 13Atlas E–Geostationary OrbitSuccess
1991-11-28Atlas E | DMSP-5D2 F11Atlas E–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1991-05-14Atlas E | NOAA 12Atlas E–Geostationary OrbitSuccess
1990-12-01Atlas E | DMSP-5D2 F10Atlas E–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1990-04-11Atlas E Altair | POGS & SSR, TEX, SCEAtlas E Altair–Polar OrbitSuccess
1988-09-24Atlas E | NOAA 11Atlas E–Geostationary OrbitSuccess
1988-02-03Atlas E | DMSP-5D2 F9Atlas E–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1987-06-20Atlas E | DMSP-5D2 F8Atlas E–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1986-09-17Atlas E | NOAA 10Atlas E–Geostationary OrbitSuccess
1985-10-09Atlas E/SGS-2 | GPS 11Atlas E/SGS-2–Medium Earth OrbitSuccess
1985-03-13Atlas E/OIS | Geosat 1Atlas E/OIS–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1984-12-12Atlas E | NOAA 9Atlas E–Geostationary OrbitSuccess
1984-09-08Atlas E/SGS-2 | GPS 10Atlas E/SGS-2–Medium Earth OrbitSuccess
1984-06-13Atlas E/SGS-2 | GPS 9Atlas E/SGS-2–Medium Earth OrbitSuccess
1983-11-18Atlas E | DMSP-5D2 F7Atlas E–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1983-07-14Atlas E/SGS-2 | GPS 8Atlas E/SGS-2–Medium Earth OrbitSuccess
1983-03-28Atlas E | NOAA 8Atlas E–Geostationary OrbitSuccess
1982-12-21Atlas E | DMSP-5D2 F6Atlas E–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1981-06-23Atlas F | NOAA 7Atlas F–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1980-12-09Atlas E/MSD | Parcae 4A,B,C & MSD 4Atlas E/MSD–Low Earth OrbitFailure
1980-05-29Atlas F | NOAA BAtlas F–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1980-03-03Atlas F/MSD | Parcae 3A,B,C & MSD 3Atlas F/MSD–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1979-06-27Atlas F | NOAA 6Atlas F–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1979-02-24Atlas F/OIS | SolwindAtlas F/OIS–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1978-10-13Atlas F | Tiros-NAtlas F–Sun-Synchronous OrbitSuccess
1978-06-27Atlas F/Agena D | Seasat 1Atlas F/Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1977-12-08Atlas F/MSD | Parcae 2A,B,C & MSD 2Atlas F/MSD–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1977-06-23Atlas F/SVS | NTS 2Atlas F/SVS–Medium Earth OrbitSuccess
1976-04-30Atlas F/MSD | Parcae 1A,B,C & MSD 1Atlas F/MSD–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1975-04-13Atlas F | P72-2Atlas F–Low Earth OrbitFailure
1974-07-14Atlas F/PTS | NTS 1Atlas F/PTS–Medium Earth OrbitSuccess
1972-05-25Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 17Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1972-04-19Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 16Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1971-09-10Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 15Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1971-03-24Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 14Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1971-02-17Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 13Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitFailure
1970-11-18Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 12Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1970-07-23Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 11Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1970-05-20Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 10Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1970-03-04Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 9Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1969-12-04Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 8Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1969-09-22Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4A 52Thorad SLV-2G Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1969-07-24Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 7Thorad SLV-2H Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1969-05-02Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4A 51Thorad SLV-2G Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1969-03-19Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4A 50Thorad SLV-2G Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1969-02-05Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4B 6Thorad SLV-2G Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1968-12-12Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4A 49Thorad SLV-2G Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1968-11-03Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4B 5Thorad SLV-2G Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1968-08-07Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4B 4Thorad SLV-2G Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1968-05-01Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4B 3Thorad SLV-2G Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1967-03-30Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 40Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1967-02-22Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 39Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1967-01-14Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 38Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1966-09-20Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 36Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1966-05-24Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 33Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1966-04-07Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 31Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1966-02-02Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 29Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1965-10-28Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 26Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1965-09-22Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 24Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1965-08-17Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 23Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1965-07-19Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 22Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1965-04-29Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 19Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1965-02-25Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 17Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1964-10-17Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 12Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1964-09-14Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 10Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1964-07-10Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 8Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1964-06-04Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 6Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1964-03-24Thor SLV-2A Agena D | KH-4A 4Thor SLV-2A Agena D–Low Earth OrbitFailure
1963-11-27Thor SLV-2 Agena D | KH-4 25Thor SLV-2 Agena D–Low Earth OrbitSuccess
1962-11-11Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 5Atlas Agena B–Polar OrbitSuccess
1962-08-05Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 4Atlas Agena B–Polar OrbitSuccess
1962-07-18Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 3Atlas Agena B–Polar OrbitSuccess
1962-06-17Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 2Atlas Agena B–Polar OrbitSuccess
1962-04-26Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 1Atlas Agena B–Polar OrbitSuccess
1961-11-22Atlas LV-3A | Samos 4Atlas Agena B––Failure
1961-09-09Atlas LV-3A | Samos 3Atlas Agena B––Failure
1961-01-31Atlas LV-3A | Samos 2Atlas Agena B––Success
1960-10-11Atlas Agena A | Samos 1Atlas Agena A–Low Earth OrbitFailure

Pad records from Launch Library 2. Flights and company identity fromSpace Index. How the numbers are derived.