{"id":43180,"date":"2026-06-18T01:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/towers-once-planned-for-california-shuttle-launches-leveled-for-spacex-rockets\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T01:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:48:09","slug":"towers-once-planned-for-california-shuttle-launches-leveled-for-spacex-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/towers-once-planned-for-california-shuttle-launches-leveled-for-spacex-rockets\/","title":{"rendered":"Towers once planned for California shuttle launches leveled for SpaceX rockets"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the United States\u2019 most storied space launch sites has been cleared of its decades-old support towers, making way for modern rockets to use the pad. Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) at Vandenberg Space Force Station is arguably better known for what did not lift off from there than for what did.<\/p>\n

A series of demolition charges on Tuesday (June 16) brought down the access tower, mobile service tower, and what remained of the assembly building at SLC-6\u2014pronounced \u201cslick-six\u201d\u2014in Southern California. Once the location for the US Air Force\u2019s first effort to put humans into space and later, the West Coast launch site for the space shuttle, SLC-6 will next be used by SpaceX in support of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy missions.<\/p>\n

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Vandenberg Space Force Base personnel watch as the assembly building at Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) is toppled on June 16, 2026, to make way for SpaceX\u2019s use of the site.<\/p>\n

Credit:
\n Space Launch Delta 30\/Tech. Sgt. Draeke Layman<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cSpace Launch Complex-6 represents six decades of American innovation and our unwavering commitment to securing space superiority,\u201d Col. James T. Horne III, commander of Space Launch Delta 30 at Vandenberg, said in a statement. \u201cBy modernizing this historic footprint in partnership with our defense industrial base, we are building directly upon the foundation of our pioneers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The demolition was known to be planned but was only announced hours after it was completed at 11 am PDT (1800 GMT) on Tuesday. The detonations brought down the access tower first, followed by the mobile service tower and then the large American flag-adorned assembly building. Typical of Vandenberg weather, a marine layer of low clouds and fog added a somber look to the scene.<\/p>\n

Have pad, will not launch<\/h2>\n

SLC-6 was first developed in 1966 to support the Air Force\u2019s first effort to send astronauts into Earth orbit to conduct reconnaissance using a vehicle and hardware adapted from NASA\u2019s Project Gemini. The site\u2019s mobile service tower and concrete apron were built for the Titan IIIM modified missile, but the program was canceled in June 1969 before any launches from SLC-6 could be conducted.<\/p>\n

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Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) as seen under construction in 1966 in support of the US Air Force\u2019s Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program.<\/p>\n

Credit:
\n U.S. Air Force\/1369th Audiovisual Squadron<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Looking to recoup some of its investment from the MOL infrastructure, the Air Force next chose SLC-6 as its launch site for Department of Defense dedicated space shuttle missions. With the intention of permanently moving the orbiter Discovery<\/em> to California, the Air Force designed SLC-6 differently from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center, most notably by stacking the vehicle directly on the pad rather than in a more distant assembly building.<\/p>\n

,<\/p>\n

In the end, only the prototype Enterprise was stood up with an external tank and solid rocket boosters on SLC-6 before the Challenger<\/em> tragedy in 1986 caused the DOD to rethink its reliance on the shuttle. Again, the Air Force walked away from the built-up facility, having never launched a single mission.<\/p>\n

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NASA\u2019s prototype space shuttle orbiter Enterprise, stacked with an external tank and two solid rocket boosters, stands at Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6), flanked by the assembly building and mobile service tower at Vandenberg Air Force Base (today Vandenberg Space Force Base) in California in February 1985.<\/p>\n

Credit:
\n U.S. Air Force\/Tech. Sgt. James Pearson<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

After a brief effort to revive SLC-6 for use with the Titan IV in the early 1990s, the site finally saw its first operational use with the launch of Lockheed Martin\u2019s LMLV-1 in 1995, followed by Athena I and Athena II rockets with payloads for NASA and Space Imaging (later GlobalEye) in 1997 and 1999, respectively.<\/p>\n

Boeing (later United Launch Alliance or ULA) then leased the site and modified the shuttle-legacy structures, including the assembly building, mobile service tower, and access tower, for a series of 10 Delta IV rocket launches on missions for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The final launch from SLC-6 to date was of a Delta IV Heavy on September 24, 2022.<\/p>\n

SpaceX at SLC-6<\/h2>\n

In 2023, SpaceX signed a lease to use SLC-6 for its Falcon rockets. Tuesday\u2019s demolition advanced the company\u2019s plans toward modernizing the site.<\/p>\n

Since 2013, SpaceX has been launching Falcon 9 rockets from Space Launch Complex-4 (SLC-4) at Vandenberg.<\/p>\n

In addition to now having access to SLC-6 itself, SpaceX in 2016 acquired the Orbiter Transporter System (OTS) originally developed for the West Coast site. The 76-wheel motorized vehicle is now used to transport flown Falcon 9 first stages from the company\u2019s Cape Canaveral facilities to its Florida launch pads.<\/p>\n

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Explosive charges sever the structural supports of the Fixed Umbilical Tower at Space Launch Complex-6 during a controlled demolition on June 16, 2026, at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.<\/p>\n

Credit:
\n U.S. Space Force\/Staff Sgt. Daekwon Stith<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

According to a 2025 environmental impact study, SpaceX expects it will take an additional 18 months to complete modifications to SLC-6, including the construction of two landing pads for the reusable Falcon 9 first stage boosters. Falcon Heavy launches could begin as soon as 2030, pending the NRO\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not just updating infrastructure,\u201d said Horne. \u201cWe are leveraging industry capabilities to field a more resilient space enterprise, ensuring the United States is prepared to protect our national interests and meet future challenges for decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click through to collectSPACE for more photos of the demolition of the SLC-6 support towers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the United States\u2019 most storied space launch sites has been cleared of its decades-old support towers, making way for modern rockets to use the pad. Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) at Vandenberg Space Force Station is arguably better known for what did not lift off from there than for what did. A series of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43180"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}