The 125-acre Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6), with its three massive moveable structures, was the major development for shuttle operations at Vandenberg; nonetheless, large-scale facility construction occurred throughout the base as well as at the Navy facility at Port Hueneme, California. In fact, 53 major facilities were constructed at 14 sites. A chronology of the development of SLC-6 is pictured here.
| Line drawing of an early SLC-6 configuration for the Air Force space shuttle, circa 1976. Changing requirements spawned at least six major design configurations. In early plans, the Payload Changeout Room (the moveable structure in the left foreground) hoisted the payloads vertically from a staging area below ground. |
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| SLC-6 as it looked in 1979, just before the start of modifications for the Air Force space shuttle. The large mobile service tower in the right foreground, the exhaust duct in the center, and the buildings in the distance were all modified for space shuttle use. |
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| Artist's rendering of SLC-6 at the start of construction in 1979. At left is the payload staging area, which grew into an aboveground secure multiple-payload processing facility of huge proportions. The building was fully hardened to withstand the launch environment despite its close proximity to the launchpad. The mobile Payload Changeout Room, located in the center of the drawing, was modified to transfer the payloads horizontally instead of vertically from the staging area and also to lift the orbiter and attach it to the external tank. Slide wires—to carry the flight crew in baskets from the orbiter to an explosion-proof bunker during an emergency evacuation—can be seen in the middle background. |
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| Artist's rendering of SLC-6, circa 1982, in its final configuration. This layout shows all three of the massive moveable structures, each weighing more than 4000 tons. The last addition was the moveable windscreen (or Shuttle Assembly Building), used along with the mobile service tower to hoist the orbiter from its transporter, rotate it to the vertical position, and mate it to the external tank without damaging delicate interface fittings during gusty winds. The original design used hydraulic arms on the front of the Payload Changeout Room, but this concept was abandoned in light of new information obtained during NASA space shuttle operations. Partially visible at the far left (just above the Payload Preparation Room) is the Launch Control Center, just 350 meters from the space shuttle at liftoff. Plans for a remote control center were under way, but it would not be available for the inaugural launch. |
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| This photo of SLC-6 in March 1985 shows the space-shuttle stack—consisting of the orbiter Enterprise mated to an external tank and inert solid-rocket motors—sitting on the launch mount. The Enterprise, a nonflight orbiter used in approach and landing tests, was used to verify the launch complex design. It is now under the care of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. |