Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ( CCAFS ) is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command ' s 45th Space Wing , headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base . Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida , CCAFS is the primary launch head of America ' s Eastern Range with four launch pads currently active . Popularly known as " Cape Kennedy " from 1963 to 1973 , and as " Cape Canaveral " from 1949 to 1963 and from 1973 to the present , the facility is south - southeast of NASA ' s Kennedy Space Center on adjacent Merritt Island , with the two linked by bridges and causeways . The Cape Canaveral AFS Skid Strip provides a runway close to the launch complexes for military airlift aircraft delivering heavy and outsized payloads to the Cape . Many major American space exploration " firsts " were launched from CCAFS , including the first U . S . Earth satellite ( 1958 ) , first U . S . astronaut ( 1961 ) , first U . S . astronaut in orbit ( 1962 ) , first two - man U . S . spacecraft ( 1965 ) , first U . S . unmanned lunar landing ( 1966 ) , and first three - man U . S . spacecraft ( 1968 ) . It was also the launch site for the first spacecraft to ever fly past the other planets in the Solar System ( 1962 – 1977 ) , the first spacecraft to orbit Mars ( 1971 ) and roam its surface ( 1996 ) , the first American spacecraft to orbit and land on Venus ( 1978 ) , the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn ( 2004 ) , and to orbit Mercury ( 2011 ) . History . The CCAFS area had been used by the United States government since 1949 when President Harry S . Truman established the Joint Long Range Proving Grounds at Cape Canaveral to test missiles . The location was among the best in the continental United States for this purpose as it allowed for launches out over the Atlantic Ocean , and it was closer to the equator than most other parts of the United States , allowing rockets to get a boost from the Earth ' s rotation On June 1 , 1948 , the U . S . Navy transferred the former Naval Air Station Banana River to the U . S . Air Force , with USAF renaming the facility the Joint Long Range Proving Ground ( JLRPG ) Base on June 10 , 1949 . On October 1 , 1949 , the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base was transferred from the Air Materiel Command to the Air Force Division of the Joint Long Range Proving Ground . On May 17 , 1950 , the base was renamed the Long Range Proving Ground Base , but three months later was renamed Patrick Air Force Base , in honor of Army Maj . Gen . Mason Patrick . In 1951 , the Air Force established the Air Force Missile Test Center . Early American sub - orbital rocket flights were achieved at Cape Canaveral in 1956 . These flights were shortly after some sub - orbital flights at White Sands , such as Viking 11 on May 24 , 1954 . Following the Soviet Union ' s successful Sputnik 1 , the US attempted its first launch of an artificial satellite from Cape Canaveral on December 6 , 1957 . However , the rocket carrying Vanguard TV3 blew up on the launch pad . NASA was founded in 1958 , and Air Force crews launched missiles for NASA from the Cape , known then as Cape Canaveral Missile Annex . Redstone , Jupiter , Pershing , Polaris , Thor , Atlas , Titan and Minuteman missiles were all tested from the site , the Thor becoming the basis for the expendable launch vehicle ( ELV ) Delta rocket , which launched Telstar 1 in July 1962 . The row of Titan ( LC - 15 , 16 , 19 , 20 ) and Atlas ( LC - 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) launch pads along the coast came to be known as Missile Row in the 1960s . Mercury and Gemini . NASA ' s early manned spaceflight programs , Mercury and Gemini , were prepared for launch from Cape launch pads LC - 5 , LC - 14 and LC - 19 by U . S . Air Force crews . Mercury ' s objectives were to place a manned spacecraft in Earth orbit , investigate human performance and ability to function in space , and safely recover the astronaut and spacecraft . The first two manned tests used the Redstone booster from LC - 5 for the 1961 suborbital flights of Alan Shepard on May 5 ( the first American in space ) and Gus Grissom on July 21 . The first American in orbit , and the first carried by the larger Atlas D rocket , was John Glenn , launched from LC - 14 on February 20 , 1962 . On February 22 , Vice - President Lyndon Johnson escorted Glenn to the Cape from Patrick Air Force Base . The President John Kennedy rode with Glenn to a ceremony where Glenn was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal . Three more orbital flights followed . The two - man Gemini spacecraft , with its Titan II booster , based on the military ICBM , and the unmanned Atlas - Agena Target Vehicle , helped carry out rendezvous and docking and extra - vehicular activity missions critical for Apollo . Twelve Gemini missions were launched from LC - 19 , the last ten of which were manned . The first manned flight , Gemini 3 , took place on March 23 , 1965 . The final flight , Gemini 12 , launched on November 11 , 1966 . Seven Atlas - Agenas were launched from LC - 14 , two of which failed to reach orbit . Early Apollo missions . The Apollo program , with the goal of landing a man on the Moon , required the Saturn family of rockets . The lunar missions required the large Saturn V rocket , for which NASA built a new launch facility , the Kennedy Space Center located west and north of Canaveral on Merrit Island . But the early members of this family , the two - stage Saturn I and IB , fit within the launch capabilities of the Cape ' s Launch Complexes 34 and 37 . The first four Saturn I development launches were made from LC - 34 between October 27 , 1961 and March 28 , 1963 . These were followed by the final test launch and five operational launches from LC - 37 between January 29 , 1964 and July 30 , 1965 . The Saturn IB uprated the capability of the Saturn I , so that it could be used for Earth orbital tests of the Apollo spacecraft . Three unmanned test launches were made on LC - 34 and LC - 37 between February 26 and August 25 , 1966 . The first manned Command Module flight AS - 204 ( also designated Apollo 1 ) , was planned to launch from LC - 34 on February 21 , 1967 , but on January 27 , 1967 , the entire crew of Gus Grissom , Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed in a Command Module fire during a spacecraft test on the launch pad . The AS - 204 rocket was used to launch Apollo 5 from LC - 37 on January 22 , 1968 , the unmanned , first Earth orbital test flight of the Apollo Lunar Module . After significant changes to the Command Module , Apollo 7 was launched from LC - 34 to fulfill Apollo 1 ' s mission , using Saturn IB AS - 205 on October 11 , 1968 . In 1972 , NASA deactivated both LC - 34 and LC - 37 . It briefly consisdered reactivating both for Apollo Applications Program launches after the end of Apollo , but instead modified the Kennedy Space Center launch complex to handle the Saturn IB for the Skylab and Apollo - Soyuz Test Project launches . The LC - 34 service structure and umbillical tower were razed , leaving only the concrete launch pedistal as a monument to the Apollo 1 crew . In 2001 , LC - 37 was recommissioned and converted to service Delta IV launch vehicles . Temporary name change . On November 29 , 1963 , following the death of President Kennedy , his successor Lyndon B . Johnson issued renaming both NASA ' s Merrit Island facility and " the facilities of Station No . 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range " ( a reference to Canaveral AFB ) the " John F . Kennedy Space Center " . He had also convinced the governor of Florida to change the name of Cape Canaveral to " Cape Kennedy " . This resuled in some confusion in the public mind joining the two . NASA Administrator James Webb clarified this by issuing a directive stating the " Kennedy Space Center " name applied only to Merrit Island , while the Air Force issued a general order renaming the military launch site " Cape Kennedy Air Force Station " . However , the geographical name change proved to be unpopular , owing to the historical longevity of Cape Canaveral . In 1973 , both the Air Force Base and the geographical Cape names were reverted to Canaveral . Subsequent activity . The Air Force chose to expand the capabilities of the Titan launch vehicles for its heavy lift capabilities . The Air Force constructed Launch Complexes 40 and 41 to launch Titan III and Titan IV rockets just south of Kennedy Space Center . A Titan III has about the same payload capacity as the Saturn IB at a considerable cost savings . Launch Complex 40 and 41 have been used to launch defense reconnaissance , communications and weather satellites and NASA planetary missions . The Air Force also planned to launch two Air Force manned space projects from LC 40 and 41 . They were the Dyna - Soar , a manned orbital rocket plane ( canceled in 1963 ) and the USAF Manned Orbital Laboratory ( MOL ) , a manned reconnaissance space station ( canceled in 1969 ) . From 1974 – 1977 the powerful Titan - Centaur became the new heavy lift vehicle for NASA , launching the Viking and Voyager series of spacecraft from Launch Complex 41 . Complex 41 later became the launch site for the most powerful unmanned U . S . rocket , the Titan IV , developed by the Air Force . Unmanned NASA launches at Cape Canaveral . NASA ' s first launch , Pioneer 1 , came on October 11 , 1958 from Cape Canaveral ' s LC - 17A using a Thor - Able booster . The civilian agency has used launch pads at Cape Canaveral AFS ever since for many unmanned launches ranging from satellites to lunar probes , including the Ranger , Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter program s during the 1960s . NASA has also launched communications and weather satellites from Launch Complexes 40 and 41 , built at the north end of the Cape in 1964 by the Air Force for its Titan IIIC and Titan IV rockets . From 1974 – 1977 the powerful Titan IIIE served as the heavy - lift vehicle for NASA , launching the Viking and Voyager series of planetary spacecraft and the Cassini – Huygens Saturn probe from LC - 41 . NASA currently uses three Cape Canaveral pads : SLC - 41 for the Atlas V and SLC - 37B for the Delta IV , both for heavy payloads ; and slc - 40 for falcon 9 launches to the space station . Launch Services Program ( LSP ) is responsible for NASA oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches at Cape Canaveral . Facilities . Of the many launch complexes built since 1950 , only four remain active with two planned for future use . Launch Complex SLC - 17 is the home of the Delta II . Launch Complexes SLC - 37 and SLC - 41 were modified to launch EELV Delta IV and Atlas V launch vehicles , respectively . These launch vehicles replaced all earlier Delta , Atlas , and Titan rockets . Launch Complex SLC - 47 is used to launch weather sounding rockets . Launch Complex SLC - 46 is reserved for future use by the Spaceport Florida Authority . Launch Complex SLC - 40 hosted the first launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 in June 2010 . In the case of low - inclination ( geostationary ) launches the location of the area at 28°27 ′ N put it at a slight disadvantage against other launch facilities situated nearer the equator . The boost eastward from the Earth ' s rotation is about at Cape Canaveral against about at the European Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana . In the case of high - inclination ( polar ) launches the latitude does not matter , but the Cape Canaveral area is not suitable because inhabited areas underlie these trajectories ; Vandenberg Air Force Base , Cape Canaveral ' s West coast counterpart , or the smaller Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska is used instead . The Air Force Space & Missile Museum is located at LC - 26 . References . http : / / history . nasa . gov / SP - 350 / events . html Sources . http : / / history . nasa . gov / SP - 350 / events . html