June 1974 Morton Thoikol awarded contract for solid rocket boosters. Enterprise, the first orbiter spacecraft is rolled out. Test vehicle is never flown in space. Rockwell contracted to manufacture two additional orbiters Discovery and Atlantis. The Columbia orbiter is delivered to Kennedy Space Center.
Enterprise is mated with external tank and solid rocket boosters for test purposes.
The Challenger orbiter is delivered to Kennedy Space Center. October 1983 Lockheed Space Operations awarded contract for shuttle processing at Kennedy Space Center. The Discovery orbiter is delivered to Kennedy Space Center. The Atlantis orbiter is delivered to Kennedy Space Center. January 1986 Shuttle Challenger explodes and crew perishes 73 seconds after liftoff.