Talk:Integrate-Transfer-Launch Complex

Notes moved to Talk

Some notes about expansion of the article have been moved here for further development and reintegration into the article:

Content removed from article

Late 80s, Titan manufacturer Martin Marietta collabs with the air force to renovate ITL post-34D

plan has LC-40 used by civvie CT3, LC-41 used for military Titan IV

T4 SRBs are taller than T3, SMARF therefore built for SRB stacking and strapping

SMAB gets retrofitted for CT3

I think both have third stages integrated at pad?

CT3 is expensive and bad, leads to early cancellation because customers like Delta II, Atlas I, and Ariane 4 more (also Soviets fell, now Proton and whatnot are in the mix)

Mention Intelsat 603 and Mars Observer here

SMAB therefore gets abandoned, and LC-40 gets retrofitted to launch Titan IV

Martin Marietta merges with Lockheed to form Lockmart, continue in operations

mostly military payloads, though Cassini was a thing too

T4 is good, but also really expensive and old

Lockmart also got Atlas after GD imploded, and it's easier and cheaper

leads to them deciding to slowly retire Titan, last LC-41 launch in 1999, last LC-40 launch in 2005

SMARF gets abandoned, rails get torn out, VIB gets demolished

=== Leases to ULA and SpaceX (from 2002) ===
LC-41 gets retired earlier because Lockmart wants to use it for Atlas V, gets renamed to SLC-41 because EELV money yo

Titan infra gets demolished, VIF gets built much closer to the pad (and because VIB and SMARF were still being used)

First launch in 2002, with hotbird

Private spaceflight industry almost implodes because dotcom bubble, leads to Lockmart and Boeing (who has delta) forming ULA together

Various launches like New Horizons and X-37B and Mars rovers my oh my

2007, Air Force leases LC-40 to SpaceX for Falcon 9, gets renamed to SLC-40 because EELV money yo

tears down Titan infra, builds HIF at the pad

also converts SMAB into payload processing (when did they do this?)

First Falcon launch in 2010, using F9 1.0

used for COTS with Dragon

renovated in 2013 for F9 1.1, now can support Fairing payloads

gets dedicated for uncrewed F9 launches after SpX got LC-39A's lease in 2014

at SLC-41, Boeing wins CCdev contract for Starliner, which uses Atlas V

therefore, a launch tower gets built

gets used first in 2019, first crew launch is in 2024

AMOS-6 happens, SLC-40 gets put out of commission for a year

SpaceX also builds a launch tower there for Dragon 2

starts becoming big workhorse pad because starlink

Russian annexation of Crimea happens, which puts ULA in hot water because AV uses RD-180

causes Vulcan to get developed to replace A5, D2, and D4

wants to have increased launch cadence, so they rename SMARF to SPOC, builds another ML there, and rebuilds all the rail lines between it and SLC-41

SPOC then becomes VIF-A (A for Amazon because Kuiper) for commercial Vulcan assembly, with VIF beccoming VIF-G for NSSL payloads and remaining Atlas launches

First Vulcan launch in early 2024

SpX officially announces new LZ would be built next to SLC-40, since LC-13's becoming a clean pad

== Launch complexes ==

=== Space Launch Complex 40 ===
{{Main article|Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40}}
[[File:Falcon 9 Starlink 6-39 Launch (8255767).jpg|thumb|SLC-40 in February 2024, launching a Falcon 9 on a [[Starlink]] mission.]]
Originally known as LC-40

Used for launching Titan IIIC, 34D, CT3, and IV

now used by spaceX for Falcon 9

originally identical to SLC-41, had MSS and launch tower

stripped down for falcon 9 originally, also HIF was built

AMOS kefuffle rended it out of action

Launch tower later rebuilt for Dragon 2

==== Landing pad ====
LZ-1 closing down, etc

=== Space Launch Complex 41 ===
{{Main article|Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41}}
[[File:Vulcan Centaur rollout (Peregrine).jpg|thumb|SLC-41 in January 2024, with a Vulcan Centaur rolling out from the VIF.]]
Originally known as LC-41

located at CCSFS, but as an enclave of KSC

use for launching Titan IIIC, IIIE, and IV

now used by ULA for Atlas V and Vulcan

originally identical to SLC-40, had MSS and launch tower

stripped town for Atlas V originally

launch tower later rebuilt for Starliner

=== Launch Complex 42 ===
Was to be built to the west of SLC-40, in the banana river

would've been used for Titan IIIC

never built due to proximity issues with Apollo stuff at LC-39

== Assembly facilities ==

=== Vertical Integration Building ===
{{Main article|Vertical Integration Building}}
[[File:ITL Area Diagram.jpg|thumb|An area diagram of the ITL during the Titan III era. The VIB is shown in the foreground.]]
Used to stack Titan cores, IE the first stage, second stage, and third stage

built in early 60s

Similar to the VAB

Four high bays/cells on the southern face

can also support payload integration

demolished in 2006 after Titan IV retired

=== Solid Motor Assembly Building ===
[[File:Solid Motor Assembly Building and Starlink 4-10.png|thumb|The SMAB in March 2022. In the background is a [[Falcon 9]] launching a [[Starlink]] batch from [[Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40|SLC-40]].]]
Used to assemble multisegment SRBs and attach them

built in early 60s

one bay for the core and ML to go through

core entered through south, got SRBs attached, rocket left through north

only used for Titan III

Now used by SpaceX for payload processing, aka taking the satellites, getting them ready for launch, and putting them in a fairing

damaged by hurricane matthew in 2016

=== Government Vertical Integration Facility ===
[[File:Lucy Rollout to the Pad, SLC-41 - DRONE (KSC 20211014 PH MTD01 0018) (cropped).jpg|thumb|The VIF-G in October 2021, rolling out an [[Atlas V]] 401 carrying ''[[Lucy (spacecraft)|Lucy]]''.]]
Originally the VIF

used to stack Atlas V and Vulcan

built in late 90s and early 2000s

located near SLC-41

One bay, ML door to the north

Originally for atlas V, modified in 2020s for Vulcan, now can do both

=== Amazon Vertical Integration Facility ===
[[File:Solid Motor Assembly and Readiness Facility at Cape Canaveral (KSC-2012-4874, cropped).jpg|thumb|The VIF-A in 2012, prior to Vulcan-adjacent renovations.]]
Originally the SMARF, then the SPOC

like SMAB, also used to assemble multisegment SRBs and attach them

built in late 80s

located near where the paths between 40 and 41 diverge

One bay for the core

only one door though

only used for Titan IV

renamed to SPOC in 2019, was used by ULA to build a second Vulcan ML

being renovated in the 2020s to be additionally used as a second VIF for Vulcan, being renamed to VIF-C

Thanks, Mathglot (talk) 16:50, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Developed some of this into a "Infrastructure" section. Still wondering how to handle the section about post-Titan usage Hal Nordmann (talk) 22:11, 17 October 2025 (UTC)

More stuff on launch statistics:

Content from Launch statistics section

== Launch statistics ==

=== SLC-40 ===
{{Cape Canaveral launch pad map}}{{#section-h:Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40|Statistics}}<!--Edit the section "Launch statistics" at [[Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40]] instead, it will update here-->

=== SLC-41 ===
{{#section-h:Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41|Statistics}}<!--Edit the section "Launch statistics" at [[Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41]] instead, it will update here-->

Mathglot (talk) 17:03, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Additional facilities

While I was trying to gather bits about the layout of ITL on Dutch Wikipedia, I encountered mentions of the Satellite Integration Building, Solid Motors Checkout Building, and something about a connection to LC-20. Unfortunately, said page lists no sources for those. And it can't be a translation issue about something else. So what are those? Hal Nordmann (talk) 18:11, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Hal Nordmann, you could contact the Dutch editor(s) who added them; do you need help in figuring out who they were or how to message them? Secondly, if they or wherever they got the names from were part of the project, they may have been using local slang or in-group terms, for something with a formal name that was different, and which would have been the name appearing in documents, and not some shop-talk term. Another possibility, is that the Dutch editor was reading a Dutch article about Cape Canaveral, with the real building names translated into Dutch like everything else. Then, when he was writing the Dutch WP article, he wanted to give the buildings English names, so he simply back-translated the Dutch building names back into English again (maybe even with crappy machine translation). Such double, back-and-forth translation is notorious for coming up with a different result than the original. This could account for why you can't find anything on the internet for those terms.

But there are sources out there with different names for some buildings that functionally appear very similar, and could be these same buildings. For example, this source says this:

[T]the ITL area include the Vertical Integration Build (VIB) (where the core vehicles and payloads are assembled); the Solid Motor Assembly Building (SMAB) (where the solid motors are built up from their individual segments); the Solid Motor Assembly and Readiness Facility (SMARF) (where the core vehicles and the solids are mated); and the pad's themselves.

Do you think that the "Satellite Integration Building" could be the VIB, and the "Solid Motors Checkout Building" could be the SMARF? If those were translated into Dutch in some random Dutch magazine, and then translated back into English by some random Dutch editor, who knows how it might come out? Whether they are or aren't the same, the point is, that we can just go with what the reliable sources say, and forget about what you saw at Dutch Wikipedia. Hope this helps, Mathglot (talk) 18:42, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Found a JSTOR thing that mentions that payloads (at least in the IIIC days) were readied at the VIB, and we have plenty of proof showing the payload getting attached on the pad. I'm willing to believe it's a translation error. Ngpiii (talk) 18:59, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

From what it looks like:

• VIB: Core integration, Titan payload processing. Now demo'd.
• SMAB: Titan III SRB integration. Now used by SpaceX for Falcon payload processing.
• SMARF: Titan IV SRB integration. Now the VIF-A, planned to integrate commercial Vulcans.
• Pads: Titan payload attachment and launch. Now launches SpaceX and ULA rockets for 40 and 41 respectively.

Ngpiii (talk) 19:05, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Could be a translation error on their part, yeah. Find it kinda weird that it was listed alongside the normal building names, though. Even the description of one picture noting " in het midden het Vertical Integration Building, links daarvan het Satellite Integration Building", which Google Translate spits out as "in the middle the Vertical Integration Building, to the left of it the Satellite Integration Building" - which, ignoring the translation errors, would imply the two are not only separate, but in discrete locations. And the "Solid Motors Check-out Building" could be something on the northern building cluster, labeled as "Solid Ass'y Storage". That is all just guessing, though - we would have to contact the writer of the article to know for sure. Hal Nordmann (talk) 19:09, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Original image

Hal Nordmann, Those words appear only in an image caption in the Dutch article, and were added by Dutch user Sidebart in the original version of the article on 01:14, 02 January 2018, in revision 50647502, which at the time was accompanied by b&w Commons image File:Titan III launch- Cape Canaveral, Florida (8619334998).jpg dated 1966 and apparently taken from Florida Memory website. The current color image is on Commons at c:File:Launch of Gemini B aboard a Titan IIIC rocket (66C-76586).jpg, and appears to be a color version of the same image and bears the same date, 3 November 1966, and credits capcomspace.net.

Labeled image

If you mouse over the color image on Commons, rectangular yellow border overlays appear in the image, and mousing over those (foreground to background) gives you pop-up descriptions of the framed buildings: 'Motor Inert Storage', 'Vertical Integration Building', 'Solid Motor Assembly Building (SMAB)', 'Launch Complex 40', and 'Launch Complex 41'.

So what the Dutch editor claims is the 'Satellite Integration Building' appears to be labeled the SMAB in the color image by WP uploader Huntster, who added the labels to the capcomspace image. So, imho, 'Satellite Integration Building' is either mistranslation (likely), original research (who knows?), or some other error of some kind. If you wanted to carry it further, you could contact the author of the image (b&w: Florida Memory; color: capcomspace.net) to verify what the items are. Or, you could search Google images for the 'Solid Motor Assembly Building' to verify that the image editor got it right, and the Dutch editor did not. I think you are safe to just ignore what the Dutch editor wrote in the caption. Mathglot (talk) 20:06, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

See also figures 49 and 64 here. Mathglot (talk) 20:12, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Might use Fig 49 in the main article, it has more details than the existing overview picture. Thanks Hal Nordmann (talk) 11:31, 6 October 2025 (UTC)

Actually... Are those figures in public domain? Good to remember that before adding anything. Could you look at that? Hal Nordmann (talk) 12:52, 6 October 2025 (UTC)

Questions about public domain and the use of external images may be asked at Commons:Village pump/Copyright. Cheers, Mathglot (talk) 16:51, 6 October 2025 (UTC)

The SMAB is also noted in the description - again, it describes the two as distinct places. But I would be willing to believe that it is original research. Either way, someone should ask that user about it. Might start with a citation needed tag. Hal Nordmann (talk) 11:21, 6 October 2025 (UTC)

Feel free to ask them. You can alert any user to a question by creating a link to their user page; e.g., [[User:Hal Nordmann]] will send you an alert, like this: User:Hal Nordmann, which will notify you that I have pinged you on this page. You can also subscribe to a particular discussion by clicking the subscribe link at the top of this section. Mathglot (talk) 16:57, 6 October 2025 (UTC)

Calling User:Sidebart! You seem to have made an error in the Dutch version of this article - it looks like either a mistranslation or original research, none of which are good. Could you please do something with it? Either find some sources (and share them with us), or remove it from the Dutch version of the page. Thank you Hal Nordmann (talk) 10:11, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

Adding the ULA and SpaceX subsections

Now since the CTIII and Titan IV section is done, I'm gonna use this topic to plan out the next sections with the ITL's era with ULA and SpaceX.

Originally, I was thinking of doing it as one big 2002-present section, but I now feel that's a bit too large.

One consideration was doing a section on early Atlas V, from LockMart moving the Atlas stuff from LC-36 to SLC-41 to around the time Falcon 9 1.0 starts flying (or whatever is a good benchmark for ULA, maybe preparation for crewed stuff like Starliner and Dream Chaser?), and then a SpaceX section from LC-40 getting leased to some point in the latter half of the 2010s (AMOS-6? Starlink getting off the ground? I'm not sure).

Another idea is to hold off on that for now and instead focus on the actual facilities, like a section on the VIB or the SMAB or the VIF-A or whatever.

Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions. Ngpiii (talk) 15:19, 17 October 2025 (UTC)