Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 34

The first crewed Apollo launch, Apollo 7 on October 11, 1968, is the last time LC-34 was used.

• Name — Launch Complex 34 • Site — Cape Canaveral Space Force Station • Short — LC-34 • Utc Offset — −05:00 • Time Zone — EST • Utc Offset Dst — −04:00 • Time Zone Dst — EDT • Operator — United States Space Force • Tlaunches — 7 • Pads — 1 • Inclination — 28° - 57°

Work began on LC-34 in 1960, and it was formally dedicated on June 5, 1961. The complex consisted of a launch platform, umbilical tower, mobile service tower, fueling facilities, and a blockhouse. Two steel flame deflectors were mounted on rails to allow placement beneath the launch platform. The service tower was likewise mounted on rails, and it was moved to a position 185 meters west of the pad before launch. At 95 meters high, it was the tallest structure at LC-34. The blockhouse, located 320 meters from the pad, was modeled after the domed reinforced concrete structure at LC-20. During a launch, it could accommodate 130 people as well as test and instrumentation equipment. Periscopes afforded views outside the windowless facility.

LC-34 saw its first launch on October 27, 1961. The first Saturn I, Block I, mission SA-1, lofted a dummy upper stage on a suborbital trajectory into the Atlantic. The subsequent three Saturn I launches took place at LC-34, ending with SA-4 on March 28, 1963. The six ensuing Saturn I, Block II launches were conducted at LC-37. LC-34 was extensively modified to support Saturn IB launches, which began in February 1966. New anchor points were built to fasten the service structure in place during high winds. Access arms on the umbilical tower were rebuilt to match the larger rocket. At the 67-meter level, the swing arm was outfitted with a white room to permit access to the command module at the top of a rocket. Two Saturn IBs (AS-201 and AS-202) were successfully launched from LC-34 before the Apollo 1 fire brought Apollo activities at the spaceport to an abrupt halt. After the fire, extinguishing equipment was installed at the top of the umbilical tower, and a slide wire was set up to provide astronauts a quick escape in the event of an emergency. The first crewed Apollo launch, Apollo 7 on October 11, 1968, was the most recent time LC-34 was used. NASA considered reactivating both LC-34 and Launch Complex 37 for the Apollo Applications Program, but instead LC-39B was modified to launch Saturn IBs.

After the decommissioning of LC-34, the umbilical tower and service structure were razed, leaving only the launch platform standing at the center of the pad, as well as the two flame deflectors and the blockhouse. The original spherical Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank also stood at the pad until 2008, when it was purchased by SpaceX and relocated to Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) for use in Falcon 9 flights. Currently, LC-34 is not tenanted by anybody and is primarily used as a memorial for Apollo 1. However, the United States Space Force has entertained leasing the pad to a commercial customer on account of its relatively large size and Cape Canaveral's limited real estate. Additionally, any precedent of a memorialized launch site refraining from getting a tenant was broken in 2023, when the Space Force awarded the lease for Launch Complex 14 (which has been similarly used to honor the Mercury Seven) to Stoke Space for use in Nova flights.

• Illustration — Pad 34 after being turned into a memorial site • Illustration — Saturn I and IB flame deflectors. Pad 37 is in the background. • Illustration — Blockhouse • Illustration — NASA administrator James Webb, VP Johnson and President Kennedy are briefed during a tour of Blockhouse 34 in 1962 • Illustration — Underside • Illustration — "Abandon in place", which means to abandon it "as is", with no maintenance. Most of the historical launch sites at Cape Canaveral are categorized in this manner. • Illustration — Astronaut memorial kiosk • Illustration — Granite memorial benches on the southern edge of the launch pad

bar chart

All flights operated by NASA. • No. — Date — Time (GMT) — Launch vehicle — Serial number — Mission — Result — Remarks • 1 — |27 October 1961 — |15:06 — |Saturn I — SA-1 — |SA-1 — |Suborbital launch. Maiden flight of the Saturn I and the Saturn family, and first launch from LC-34. Only the S-I was a live stage, with the rest being boilerplates. • 2 — |25 April 1962 — |14:00 — |Saturn I — SA-2 — |SA-2 — |Suborbital launch. Boilerplate upper stages detonated after completion of mission as part of Project Highwater, done to test effects of water at high altitudes on communications. • 3 — |16 November 1962 — |17:45 — |Saturn I — SA-3 — |SA-3 — |Suborbital launch. Boilerplate upper stages detonated after completion of mission as part of Project Highwater, done to test effects of water at high altitudes on communications. • 4 — |28 March 1963 — |20:11 — |Saturn I — SA-4 — |SA-4 — |Suborbital launch. Final Saturn I launch to use a boilerplate second stage. • 5 — |26 February 1966 — |15:06 — |Saturn IB — SA-201 — |AS-201 — |Suborbital launch. Maiden flight of the Saturn IB and of an operational Apollo CSM. Also occasionally known as Apollo 1-A. • 6 — |25 August 1966 — |17:15 — |Saturn IB — SA-202 — |AS-202 — |Suborbital launch. Also occasionally known as Apollo 2. • - — |Planned for 21 February 1967 — |Cancelled — |Saturn IB — SA-204 — |Apollo 1 — Precluded — |Intended to be the first crewed flight of the Apollo Program. Flight precluded a month before launch on January 27, when a fire broke out in the CSM during an on-pad test, killing astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. Planned rocket would be later used for Apollo 5. • 7 — |11 October 1968 — |15:02 — |Saturn IB — SA-205 — |Apollo 7 — |Test of Apollo CSM for length of planned lunar journey. First crewed Apollo flight, and first crewed American spaceflight following the Apollo 1 fire. Last crewed launch from Cape Canaveral Station until Boeing CFT in 2024. First orbital launch from LC-34, and most recent launch from LC-34.

• Illustration — The first launch from LC-34, Saturn SA-1 in October 1961 • Illustration — Saturn I for mission SA-3 in place on Pad 34, prior to November 1962 launch • Illustration — Saturn SA-4 on the pad at LC-34 in March 1963 • Illustration — Apollo 7 launch, photographed from behind the blockhouse