CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Operation of Launch Complex 47 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was transferred from the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing to the Florida Space Authority (FSA) on Thursday through a licensing agreement under the Commercial Space Transportation Act.
As part of the agreement, Brevard Community College (BCC) of Melbourne, Fla., will be responsible for ground operations and the University of Central Florida's Florida Space Institute-- which has headquarters on Kennedy Space Center property -- will be responsible for flight operations.
"We are thrilled to transfer use of this launch pad to FSA and its partners," said Brig. Gen. Greg Pavlovich, commander of the 45th Space Wing. "Through the efforts of all involved, we took an active launch pad that was scheduled to be deactivated and turned it over to the State of Florida to be used for educational opportunities for years to come.""We are pleased to partner on this educational venture that will assist in developing the next generation of aerospace professionals," added Winston Scott, FSA's executive director.
Complex 47 is the Cape's home for the Super Loki, a two-stage rocket that stands about 15 feet tall and is launched on a rail. The first stage includes a solid-fueled rocket motor that provides all of the thrust for the mission. The second stage is an inert dart that carries the payload to the edge of space but doesn't enter orbit.
Such suborbital missions are used for making high altitude weather observations in support of other Cape launches, conducting research into the upper atmosphere and for exposing science experiments to short periods of microgravity as well as the space environment. Hundreds of sounding rockets have been flown successfully around the world during the past 40 years.
Due to their safe launch record and relative ease of operation, these types of missions ideally lend themselves to educational programs for research students who are interested in gaining real world space experience. As a new Site Manager for Launch Complex 47, BCC hopes to offer as many as 200 educational launch opportunities with its partners during the next five to 10 years.
"This exciting endeavor will allow us to offer a hands-on technical education that will help keep our students motivated to continue their studies and eventually join the aerospace workforce of the future," said Dr. Al Koller, BCC's executive director of aerospace programs.
The dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony concluded with the suborbital launch of a Super Loki, which carried a student experiment designed to capture digital pictures of Florida's Space Coast from an altitude of nearly 50 miles.
Unfortunately the payload was lost when the upper stage dart went off course at high altitude.
More from SPACE.com:
advertisement
advertisement
