Wallops Flight Facility Launch Area 3
Encyclopedia
Launch Area 3 at the Wallops Flight Facility
is a launch complex which was used, mostly by Scout rockets, between 1960 and 1985. Forty one Scout launches occurred from the complex, making both orbital and suborbital
. In addition, four Nike sounding rocket
s were launched from the complex in 1970.
Launch Area 3 contains two launch pads, Area 3 and Area 3A. Area 3, also known as the Mk.I launcher, was used by eighteen Scout rockets between 1960 and 1964. The first launch from the complex, on 18 April 1960, was the maiden flight of the Scout rocket, using the Scout X
configuration. The last Scout launch from the pad occurred on 6 November 1964. On 7 March 1970, a Nike-Apache and four Nike-Iroquois rockets were launched from the complex.
The upgraded Launch Area 3A, or Mk.II launcher, replaced the original Launch Area 3. It was used for twenty three Scout launches, starting on 20 July 1964. The last launch from the complex occurred on 13 December 1985.
Wallops Flight Facility
Wallops Flight Facility , located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for NASA and other U.S. government agencies...
is a launch complex which was used, mostly by Scout rockets, between 1960 and 1985. Forty one Scout launches occurred from the complex, making both orbital and suborbital
Sub-orbital spaceflight
A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....
. In addition, four Nike sounding rocket
Sounding rocket
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...
s were launched from the complex in 1970.
Launch Area 3 contains two launch pads, Area 3 and Area 3A. Area 3, also known as the Mk.I launcher, was used by eighteen Scout rockets between 1960 and 1964. The first launch from the complex, on 18 April 1960, was the maiden flight of the Scout rocket, using the Scout X
Scout X
Scout X, also known as Cub Scout, was an American rocket which served as a prototype of the Scout, which was launched on a single test flight in 1960...
configuration. The last Scout launch from the pad occurred on 6 November 1964. On 7 March 1970, a Nike-Apache and four Nike-Iroquois rockets were launched from the complex.
The upgraded Launch Area 3A, or Mk.II launcher, replaced the original Launch Area 3. It was used for twenty three Scout launches, starting on 20 July 1964. The last launch from the complex occurred on 13 December 1985.
See also
- Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 18Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 18Launch Complex 18 is a launch complex at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida that was active during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was used by Viking, Vanguard, Thor and Scout rockets...
- San Marco platformSan Marco platformThe Luigi Broglio Space Centre is an Italian-owned spaceport near Malindi, Kenya, named after its founder and Italian space pioneer Luigi Broglio. Developed in the 1960s through a partnership between the University of Rome La Sapienza's Aerospace Research Centre and NASA, the BSC served as a...
- Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 5Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 5Space Launch Complex 5 was a launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United States. It was previously part of the Point Arguello Naval Air Station, during which time it was designated Launch Complex D or LC-D. Constructed in 1961, it was used by 69 Scout rockets between 1962 and 1994...