 Launch of Bumper 8 from LC-3. This was the first launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station | |||||||||||
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| Launch site | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Cape Canaveral, Florida | ||||||||||
| Short name | LC-3 | ||||||||||
| Operator | US Space Force | ||||||||||
| Total launches | 77 | ||||||||||
| Launch pad(s) | 1 | ||||||||||
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Launch Complex 3 (LC-3) is a deactivated launch site southeast of SLC-36 on Cape Canaveral, Florida at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It was constructed, with launch complexes 1, 2, and 4, in the early 1950s for the Snark missile program.[1]
It was formerly used to launch Bumper, BOMARC, UGM-27 Polaris, and Lockheed X-17 missiles. The pad was also the site of the first launch from Cape Canaveral, a Bumper rocket on July 24, 1950. The site also served as a medical support facility during Project Mercury.[2]
In 2023, after weeks of searching, students from the University of Central Florida, working with archaeologists, discovered the site of the original blockhouse supporting the first Bumper launch just north of the pad at LC-3, including the slab foundation and some of the surrounding Marston mat, all long-buried under heavy scrub.[3]