Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) is alaunch complex located at theCape Canaveral Space Force Station inFlorida.^[1][2] Located south of theMissile Row launch range, the complex originally consisted of two pads—designatedLC-36A andLC-36B—to support the flights ofAtlas launch vehicles equipped with aCentaur upper stage. From the 1960s to the 1980s, LC-36 was used byNASA and theUnited States Air Force to launch many payloads from theAtlas-Centaur and its derivatives, including thePioneer,Surveyor, andMariner probes.^[3] During the late 1980s, LC-36B was also used to launch theAtlas G, andGeneral Dynamics (and laterLockheed Martin) modified the two pads to support the largerAtlas I,Atlas II, andAtlas III throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.^[4]

Launch Complex 36

LC-36 in January 2025, launching the maiden flight ofNew Glenn
Launch site	Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Coordinates	28°28′14″N80°32′24″W / 28.47056°N 80.54000°W /28.47056; -80.54000
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (EDT)
Short name	LC-36
Operator	United States Space Force (owner) Space Florida (tenant) Blue Origin (subtenant)
Total launches	146
Orbital inclination range	28° - 57°
LC-36 launch history Status Active Launches 1 First launch 16 January 2025 New Glenn (Blue Ring) Associated rockets Current:New Glenn Future:New Armstrong Plans cancelled:Athena III LC-36A launch history Status Demolished Launches 69 First launch May 18, 1962 Atlas-Centaur (AC-1) Last launch August 31, 2004 Atlas II (NROL-1) Associated rockets Retired:Atlas-Centaur,Atlas II LC-36B launch history Status Demolished Launches 76 First launch August 11, 1965 Atlas-Centaur (Surveyor SD-2) Last launch February 3, 2005 Atlas III (NROL-23) Associated rockets Retired:Atlas-Centaur,Atlas G,Atlas I,Atlas II,Atlas III

Following the Atlas program's relocation toSpace Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) in 2005, LC-36 stood vacant untilBlue Origin acquired the lease in 2015 for use by their heavy-liftNew Glenn rocket.^[5] The company made extensive modifications to the complex during this time, including demolishing 36A and 36B to build one large pad in place, as well as integrating the neighboringLaunch Complex 11 (LC-11) into the facility. Following this large-scale renovation, the new era of LC-36 commenced with the maiden flight of New Glenn in January 2025.

LC-36 was originally constructed by theUS government in the early 1960s in order to launch theAtlas-Centaur rocket, with first launch in May 1962.^[5]

LC-36A was the scene of the biggest on-pad explosion in Cape history when Atlas-Centaur AC-5 fell back onto the pad on March 2, 1965. The accident spurred NASA to complete work on LC-36B which had been abandoned when it was 90% finished.^[6]

LC-36B was built near LC-36A "due to the Atlas-Centaur’s increasing flight rate – and low reliability early on."^[5]

The pad was modified by the operator of Atlas during the late 1980s to be able to launch theAtlas I, with first launch occurring in July 1990, and was subsequently modified two additional times during the 1990s to launch theAtlas II andAtlas III launch vehicles.^[5] Atlas III made its sixth and final launch from LC-36 in 2005.

There was a total of 68 and 77 launches from pads 36A and 36B, respectively, while the US government operated the launch complex in the first five decades of spaceflight.^[4]

The pad was unused from mid-2005 through 2015.

The legacy Atlas-Centaur umbilical towers of both pads were demolished in 2006.^[7] The mobile service towers were both demolished in controlled explosions on June 16, 2007. Tower B was demolished at 13:59GMT (09:59EDT) and tower A followed twelve minutes later at 14:11 (10:11 EDT).^[8]

In 2008,Aviation Week magazine reported that theU.S. Air Force committed to lease Launch Complex 36 toSpace Florida for future use by theAthena III launch system,^[9] but that program never moved forward.^[10]

In March 2010, the USAF45th Space Wing issuedreal property licenses to Space Florida for Space Launch Complexes 36 and 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.^[11][12]

Moon Express leased the pad in February 2015 from Space Florida as a development and test site for its commercial lunar operations and itslunar landerflight test vehicles.^[13]

In 2015,Blue Origin signed a long-term lease of launch site fromSpace Florida for launching Blue's orbital rockets, after Space Florida had previously leased the facility from the USAF in 2010 in order to facilitatecommercial use of the land and facilities since the Air Force no longer required use of the launch complex. Moon Express and Blue Origin shared LC-36, delineated into LC-36A and LC-36B respectively, until Moon Express announced its relocation to Launch Complexes 17 and 18 in 2016, allowing Blue Origin full use of the LC-36 facility. In early 2016, Blue intended to begin orbital launches by 2020,^[14] as of 2019 they are expected to begin from LC-36 no earlier than 2024,^[5] although the launch finally occurred on 16 January 2025.

On September 15, 2015,Blue Origin announced it would use Launch Complex 36 for launches of itsorbital launch vehicle later in the decade.^[15][16][17] Blue had the lease in place for Launch Complex 36 by late 2015^[14] from theFloridastate space agency,Space Florida, and will manufacture their newBE-4-powered orbital launch vehicle at the nearbyExploration Park, also a part of the Space Florida land complex.^[5]

By October 2015, the pad design and configuration was not yet publicly known.^[4] Bluebroke ground for the facility to initiate construction activity on the site in June 2016.^[18]

By March 2016, the first launch of the Blue orbital launch vehicleNew Glenn was estimated to be no earlier than 2020^[14] and that target date had not changed by the time high-level specifications for the new launcher were unveiled in September 2016,^[19] nor by the time construction of the launch site was well underway in September 2018.^[20] New Glenn will be a very large 7.0-meter (23 ft)-diameter vehicle. The first stage will be powered by sevenBE-4methane/oxygen engines producing 17.1 meganewtons (3,850,000 lbf) totalthrust at launch. The first stage will bereusable and is designed to landvertically.^[19]

Blue has also leased the adjacent land—formerly known asLC-11—to use as aground-based rocket engine test facility. Construction of the new launch complex and engine test facility was still underway in September 2018.^[20] In addition to LC-11, Blue also leasedLC-12 to the north, which has been in use as a storage site for various hardware surrounding New Glenn.^[21]

Although Blue has been publicly quiet about the status of the launch complex construction, high-resolution aerial photography released afterHurricane Dorian in September 2019 showed that facility foundation work is in place—including for the horizontal integration facility, the launch service structure, lightning tower, and water tower—and above-ground steel construction has commenced. In September 2019, thepropellant tank farm was in the process of being installed.^[5]

All flights operated byNASA.

All flights before 1994 operated byGeneral Dynamics, from 1994 to January 1995 byMartin Marietta, and since April 1995 byLockheed Martin.

All flights operated byBlue Origin.

All flights operated byNASA.

All flights before 1994 operated byGeneral Dynamics, from 1994 to January 1995 byMartin Marietta, and since March 1995 byLockheed Martin.

•  
  AnAtlas-Centaur at LC-36A prior to the launch ofPioneer 10.
•  
  AnAtlas III launches from LC-36B.
•  
  The MSS of Launch Complex 36A falls to the ground after critical supports are destroyed in a controlled explosion.

• List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites