Towers once planned for California shuttle launches leveled for SpaceX rockets
Towers once planned for California shuttle launches leveled for SpaceX rockets
曾为加州航天飞机发射而建的塔架被拆除，为 SpaceX 火箭腾出空间
One of the United States’ 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. 美国最具传奇色彩的航天发射场之一，其使用了数十年的支撑塔架已被拆除，为现代火箭的使用腾出了空间。位于范登堡太空军基地的 6 号航天发射复合体（SLC-6）之所以出名，很大程度上是因为它“没能发射什么”，而不是因为它发射了什么。
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—pronounced “slick-six”—in Southern California. Once the location for the US Air Force’s 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. 周二（6 月 16 日），一系列爆破作业拆除了位于南加州 SLC-6（发音为“slick-six”）的进入塔、移动服务塔以及剩余的组装大楼。SLC-6 曾是美国空军首次载人航天计划的所在地，后来又成为航天飞机的西海岸发射场，未来它将由 SpaceX 接手，用于支持“猎鹰 9 号”和“猎鹰重型”火箭的发射任务。
“Space Launch Complex-6 represents six decades of American innovation and our unwavering commitment to securing space superiority,” Col. James T. Horne III, commander of Space Launch Delta 30 at Vandenberg, said in a statement. “By modernizing this historic footprint in partnership with our defense industrial base, we are building directly upon the foundation of our pioneers.” 范登堡第 30 太空发射联队指挥官 James T. Horne III 上校在一份声明中表示：“6 号航天发射复合体代表了美国六十年的创新历程，以及我们确保太空优势的坚定承诺。通过与国防工业基地合作，对这一历史性基地进行现代化改造，我们正直接在先驱们奠定的基础上继续前行。”
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. 此次拆除工作早有计划，但直到周二上午 11 点（太平洋夏令时间，格林威治标准时间 1800 点）拆除工作完成后数小时才对外公布。爆破首先摧毁了进入塔，随后是移动服务塔，最后是装饰着巨幅美国国旗的组装大楼。范登堡的天气一如既往，低空的海洋云层和雾气为现场增添了几分肃穆。
Have pad, will not launch
有发射台，却未曾发射
SLC-6 was first developed in 1966 to support the Air Force’s first effort to send astronauts into Earth orbit to conduct reconnaissance using a vehicle and hardware adapted from NASA’s Project Gemini. The site’s 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. SLC-6 最初于 1966 年开发，旨在支持美国空军的首次载人航天计划，即利用改装自 NASA“双子座计划”的载具和硬件将宇航员送入地球轨道进行侦察。该基地的移动服务塔和混凝土停机坪是为“泰坦 IIIM”改进型导弹建造的，但该计划在 1969 年 6 月被取消，SLC-6 未能进行任何发射。
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 to California, the Air Force designed SLC-6 differently from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, most notably by stacking the vehicle directly on the pad rather than in a more distant assembly building. 为了收回在载人轨道实验室（MOL）基础设施上的部分投资，空军随后选择 SLC-6 作为国防部专用航天飞机任务的发射场。出于将“发现号”轨道器永久转移到加州的意图，空军对 SLC-6 的设计与 NASA 肯尼迪航天中心有所不同，最显著的区别在于它直接在发射台上进行航天器组装，而不是在较远的组装大楼内进行。
In the end, only the prototype Enterprise was stood up with an external tank and solid rocket boosters on SLC-6 before the Challenger 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. 最终，只有原型机“企业号”曾被安装在 SLC-6 的外储箱和固体火箭助推器上。1986 年“挑战者号”悲剧发生后，国防部重新评估了对航天飞机的依赖。空军再次放弃了这一设施，且从未在此执行过任何一次发射任务。
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’s 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. 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. 在 20 世纪 90 年代初短暂尝试重启 SLC-6 用于“泰坦 IV”火箭后，该基地终于在 1995 年迎来了首次实战应用——发射洛克希德·马丁公司的 LMLV-1 火箭。随后，1997 年和 1999 年分别发射了搭载 NASA 和 Space Imaging（后更名为 GlobalEye）载荷的“雅典娜 I”和“雅典娜 II”火箭。波音公司（后为联合发射联盟 ULA）随后租用了该场地，并改造了航天飞机遗留的结构（包括组装大楼、移动服务塔和进入塔），用于为国家侦察局（NRO）执行 10 次“德尔塔 IV”火箭发射任务。截至目前，SLC-6 的最后一次发射是 2022 年 9 月 24 日的“德尔塔 IV 重型”火箭。
SpaceX at SLC-6
SpaceX 入驻 SLC-6
In 2023, SpaceX signed a lease to use SLC-6 for its Falcon rockets. Tuesday’s demolition advanced the company’s plans toward modernizing the site. Since 2013, SpaceX has been launching Falcon 9 rockets from Space Launch Complex-4 (SLC-4) at Vandenberg. 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’s Cape Canaveral facilities to its Florida launch pads. 2023 年，SpaceX 签署了租约，将使用 SLC-6 发射其“猎鹰”系列火箭。周二的拆除工作推进了该公司对该基地进行现代化改造的计划。自 2013 年以来，SpaceX 一直在范登堡的 4 号航天发射复合体（SLC-4）发射“猎鹰 9 号”火箭。除了现在可以使用 SLC-6 外，SpaceX 还于 2016 年收购了最初为该西海岸基地开发的轨道器运输系统（OTS）。这辆拥有 76 个轮子的机动车辆，目前被用于将飞行过的“猎鹰 9 号”一级助推器从公司位于卡纳维拉尔角的设施运送到佛罗里达州的发射台。