Eastern Range The Eastern Range ( ER ) is an American rocket range that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center ( KSC ) , Florida . The range has also supported Ariane launches from the Guiana Space Centre as well as launches from the Wallops Flight Facility and other lead ranges . The range also uses instrumentation operated by NASA at Wallops and KSC . The headquarters of the range is the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base . History . The history of the Eastern Range began on October 1 , 1940 with the activation of the Banana River Naval Air Station which supported antisubmarine sea - patrol planes during World War II . The station was deactivated and put into a caretaker status on September 1 , 1947 . Launches of captured German V - 2 rockets had been ongoing since the end of World War II at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico , but it became clear that a much longer range away from heavily populated areas would be needed . The Joint Research and Development Board established the Committee on the Long Range Proving Ground in October , 1946 to study locations for such a range , with three potential sites emerging : along the northern coast of Washington with a range along the Aleutian Islands ; El Centro , California , with a range along the Baja peninsula ; and Banana River Naval Air Station with a launch site at Cape Canaveral and a range over the Bahamas and into the Atlantic Ocean . The Washington site was quickly discarded due to difficulties with support due to cold weather and remoteness . El Centro was put forth as the primary choice ( due to being close to missile manufacturers ) with the Cape as second choice . However , the El Centro site had to be abandoned after a wayward V - 2 missile from White Sands crashed into a cemetery in Juarez , Mexico , leading to then Mexican President Aleman refusing to allow missiles to overfly Baja . The Navy transferred the Air Station to the Air Force on September 1 , 1948 and it remained on standby status . On May 11 , 1949 , President Truman signed Public Law 60 which established the Joint Long Range Proving Ground . On June 10 , 1949 , the Banana River Naval Air Station was redesignated the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base and Advance Headquarters , Joint Long Range Proving Ground and the Air Force Division , Joint Long Range Proving Ground was established . On May 16 , 1950 and May 17 , 1950 , range and base dropped the " Joint " in their names due to a DOD decision earlier in the year to put the range exclusively under Air Force jurisdiction . On July 24 , 1950 , Bumper # 8 became the first missile to launch from the Cape . The Long Range Proving Ground Base was renamed Patrick Air Force Base on August 1 , 1950 , in honor of Major General Mason M . Patrick and the following year , on June 30 , 1951 , the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Division became the Air Force Missile Test Center and the Joint Long Range Proving Ground became the Florida Missile Test Range . These would not be the only name changes for the range or the agency that controlled it . The Florida Missile Test Range was renamed the Atlantic Missile Range in 1958 and the Eastern Test Range in 1964 ; the Air Force Missile Test Center was redesignated the Air Force Eastern Test Range ( AFETR ) in 1964 , then control of the range was transferred to Detachment 1 of the Space and Missile Test Center located at Vandenberg Air Force Base when AFETR was deactivated on February 1 , 1977 , which put both the Eastern and Western ranges under the same leadership . On October 1 , 1979 , control of the range passed to the newly activated Eastern Space and Missile Center ( ESMC ) . The ESMC was transferred from Air Force Systems Command to Air Force Space Command on October 10 , 1990 ; finally , on November 12 , 1991 , the 45th Space Wing was activated and assumed operational control for the range from ESMC ; on the same day the Eastern Test Range became the Eastern Range . The transition on the west coast occurred one week later on November 19 , 1991 , when the Western Space and Missile Center became the 30th Space Wing and the Western Test Range became the Western Range . The current Range Contractor is Computer Sciences Raytheon . Location . The range starts at the launch pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and John F . Kennedy Space Center and extends eastward over the Atlantic Ocean to 90 degrees East longitude in the Indian Ocean , where it meets the Western Range . The range consists of a chain of shore and sea based tracking sites . " By January 1960 , the Eastern Range included 13 major stations , approximately 91 outlying sites , a fleet of ships and three marine support stations . By September 1963 , the Eastern Range extended around the tip of South Africa to the island of Mahé in the Indian Ocean . " Much the sea based tracking and many of the land based stations have been replaced by space based tracking , including the present TDRSS . Ground stations associated with the range are located at : Major decommissioned stations associated with the range are located at : Launches supported by the range . Between 12 / 1 / 2008 and 12 / 1 / 2009 the Eastern Range supported 19 launches . Airborne and sea - based tracking assets . As recently as 2007 - 07 - 06 , NASA spacecraft such as Dawn have depended upon the availability of airborne and sea - based tracking assets associated with the ER to monitor launch and ascent .