Stoke Space will balance the present and the future at a famous Florida launch site for Mercury's ascent.

 


Launch Complex 14 (LC-14) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station still has its ramp and launch platform. (U.S. Air Force attribution for image.)

A new lease of life is being given to the long-retired launch pad from which astronaut John Glenn launched to become the first American to circle the Earth.

The Washington-based Stoke Space, which is building a reusable rocket that will launch every day, has been given access to Space Launch Complex 14 (LC-14), according to a statement released by the U.S. Space Force on Tuesday (March 7). The Florida complex enabled the launches of Scott Carpenter, Walter "Wally" Schirra, and Gordon Cooper on the three NASA Mercury-Atlas missions that followed, in addition to being the location of Glenn's launch in February 1962.

Co-founder and CEO of Stoke Space Andy Lapse said in a statement, "We're standing on the legs of giants" . "We are similarly extremely shamed by LC-14's antique status. Our entire team views the opportunity to reactivate this site in the highest regard as a tremendous responsibility."

"We will make sure to do so in a manner that maintains its current history and pays homage to those who came before us," said Lapse, who previously oversaw rocket engine development at Blue Origin


.View from above of Launch Complex 14, showing Missile Row to the right. Prior to the flight in 1963, Gordon Cooper's Mercury-Atlas 9 rocket can be seen perched atop LC-14. (NASA attribution for image)



LC-14, which was made a National Historic Landmark in 1984, was initially constructed in 1957 to test Atlas rockets. The launch pad was used for 28 launches in addition to the four human flights, including the Mercury-Atlas 4 mission in 1961, which carried the chimpanzee Enos, and seven Atlas-Agena target vehicles for NASA's Gemini programmed between 1965 and 1966. LC-14 was designated "abandoned in place" five years after it was deactivated in 1967.

 

In late 1976, the 155-foot-tall (47-meter) service structure that had been erected at LC-14 since the beginning was destroyed. Despite a 1997 partial restoration attempt, the 92-foot-long (28 m) ramp and 22-foot-high (7 m) launch stand have both been deteriorated by the elements.

In 1998, the original blockhouse of the pad was transformed into a meeting center, and Carpenter and Cooper were there to dedicate it.

 

In addition to the buildings on the platform (such as the spaces set aside for the Mercury astronauts to park in), LC-14 is now home to a number of monuments attesting to its historic significance. A sizable titanium sculpture of the Project Mercury symbol stands at the complex's entryway, and when the site


In front of the Project Mercury sculpture at the entrance to Launch Complex 14 (LC-14) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, a baseball hat bearing the Stoke Space logo is lying on the ground. (Stoke Space credit for image.)

What, if any, restrictions Stoke Space will be subject to as the business adapts LC-14 for its use are not yet known. A spokesperson stated that they could not speak on specifics at this time but referred to Julia Black, Stake’s director of range operations, public statements.

 

"Strengthen is glowing sensible of the historic status of Presentation Compound 14, and Strengthen will care keeping that antiquity in adding to allowing a healthy presentation programmed, according to Black. We are eager to contribute to the impressive accomplishments of the American space programmed."

The Space Force's Space Launch Delta (SLD) 45 also assigned LC-15 to ABL Space Systems and LC-13 to Phantom Space and Vaya Space in addition to LC-14 to Stoke. From 1959 to 1964, LC-15 served as a Titan missile location. Before being deactivated in 1978, LC-13 assisted Atlas flights, including the launch of five Lunar Orbiter missions and Mariner 3 for NASA. The location was rented to SpaceX in 2015 for use as Landing Zone 1 for the company's Falcon 9 rocket first stage recoveries, nearly 40 years later.

According to a press release from the Space Force, "offering excess launch property to CLSPs [commercial launch service providers] promotes development of new space launch systems and helps ensure a strong space launch industrial base for the country.


Illustration of Stoke Space's completely reusable rocket launching into Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral's LC-14 as it separates stages. (Stoke Space credit for image.)

 

By using a laser scanner to survey, map, and create virtual models of the historic pad structures still standing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the U.S. Air Force and the University of South Florida's Alliance for Integrated Spatial Technologies (AIST) previously collaborated to virtually preserve locations like LC-14 (then Air Force Station). The job, which was completed in 2014, is one method for preserving the region's history.

"Joyful new presentations to the Wrap's new presentation dealers! We anticipate seeing your contributions to the upcoming space launch innovation chapter "In a statement published to its social media platforms, the staff at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum (previously known as the Air Force Space and Missile Museum) stated. "LC-14 will remain to performance as a bodily connection to the Cloak's annoying antiquity, current progressions, and possible stocks!"


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