Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 13
Atlas with Mariner 3 at Launch Complex 13 prior to launch on 4 November 1964 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interactive map of Launch Complex 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | 28°29′09″N 80°32′40″W / 28.4859°N 80.5444°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (EST) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Short name | LC-13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | United States Space Force (owner) Phantom Space and Vaya Space (tenants) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total launches | 52 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch pad | 1, plus 2 landing sites | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Launch Complex 13 (LC-13), located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, was the third-most southerly of the original launch complexes known as Missile Row, lying between LC-12 and LC-14. In 2015, the LC-13 site was leased by SpaceX and was renovated for use as Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2), the company's East Coast landing location for returning Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicle booster stages until 2025 when they were retired and leased by US Space Force to Phantom Space and Vaya Space who will operate this launch complex in future.
LC-13 was originally used for test launches of the SM-65 Atlas and subsequently for operational Atlas launches from 1958 to 1978. It was the most-used and longest-serving of the original four Atlas pads. It was inactive between 1980 and 2015.
LC-13 was on land owned by the US government and was originally controlled by the United States Air Force. It was transferred to NASA in 1964 and back to the Air Force in 1970. In January 2015, the land and remaining facilities at LC-13 were leased to SpaceX for a five-year lease.