Level II Documentation of Launch Complex 31/32, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

Abstract

Abstract : This report presents Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Level II documentation of Launch Complex 31/32, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Florida. Launch Complex 31/32 has played an important role in the American missile program that began largely as a result of the Cold War. As the arms race expanded in the 1950s and 1960s, missile systems with increasing range and destructive power were deployed on both American and foreign soil. To bring these systems to operational readiness, long and complicated testing programs were necessary, and required specialized facilities to support them. First operational in 1961, Complex 31/32 was used to support testing of the Minuteman series of missiles. During the 1960s, three successive configurations of the Minuteman missile were tested at the site, including the first U.S. silo launch of a fully active missile. The complex's launch pads were also used as launch sites for mobile missiles Pershing, Alpha Draco, and Jason. Missile testing at the complex concluded in 1973. The complex silos were selected as the resting place for the debris from the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1986, with the material transfer occurring in February 1987. In 1993, CCAFS Launch Complex 31/32 was determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under NRHP Criteria A and C. It also qualified under Criteria Consideration G as a property of exceptional importance which has achieved significance in the last 50 years.