The 45th Space Wing: Its Heritage, History & Honors 1950-1999

Contractor Roles In Range & Launch Operations

As we noted earlier, the Eastern Range was operated under a series of multi-year range contracts with Pan American World Services and its subcontractor, RCA from 1954 through early October 1988. To improve competition for range services in 1988, the Air Force divided the range contract into the Range Technical Services (RTS) contract and the Launch Base Services (LBS) contract. Computer Sciences Raytheon (CSR) won the RTS contract in June 1988, July 1993 and February 2000. Pan American (later known as Johnson Controls) was awarded the LBS contract in August 1988 and July 1992.

Except for facilities at the Cape, CSR managed, operated and maintained range instrumentation and facilities all over the Eastern Range. This work included the acquisition and testing of range systems, range planning and scheduling, collection and reduction of launch vehicle and spacecraft flight data, and support services (e.g., security and safety programs, training, quality assurance, cost accounting, corrosion control, special purpose vehicle maintenance and civil engineering support). CSR operated and maintained the range's radars, telemetry, optical systems, command/destruct generators and communications.

As the LBS contractor, Johnson Controls provided the Cape with launch pad safety, security, fire protection, Skid Strip operations, utilities and heavy equipment services. Johnson Controls was also responsible for maintenance and repairs, including plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, masonry, sandblasting and painting.

In an effort to achieve greater efficiency in the launch base support area, the Air Force and NASA agreed in 1997 to consolidate their respective base support service requirements under a single contract. The contract - called the Joint Base Operations and Support Contract or simply, "J-BOSC" - would be managed by a Board of Directors and a Joint Performance Management Office (JPMO) staffed by Kennedy Space Center and 45th Space Wing personnel. The J-BOSC consisted of a basic five-year contract with one five-year priced option. On 21 August 1998, Space Gateway Support (SGS) of Herndon, Virginia was awarded the first Joint Base Operations and Support Contract. The contract covered all the work handled by Johnson Controls under the LBS contract, plus any efforts associated with the Kennedy Space Center's Base Operations Contract (BOC) handled by EG&G, Florida, Inc. Following a formal 23-day phase-in period, SGS started the contract on 1 October 1998.

The Eastern Range's photographic services were handled under a series of separate contracts by Technicolor Graphic Services, Inc. and its successors, Bionetics and Johnson Controls World Services. All three companies were responsible for still and motion picture camera operations at KSC and the Cape. Until 1 August 1998, the Range Visual Information Technical Services (RVITS) contract provided photographic services to its customers on a reimbursable basis. Thereafter, the Visual Information Technical Contract (VITC) required customers to provide funding before services were rendered. The first VITC was awarded to Johnson Controls on 26 June 1998.

Under the Launch Operations Support Contract (LOSC) starting in December 1995, Brown & Root Services employed 115 people to operate the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) Processing Facility (DPF), the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System Processing Facility (NPF) and the Spacecraft Processing and Integration Facility (SPIF). Individual payloads were checked out in those facilities by the payload manufacturers' personnel. Like Brown & Root, Johnson Controls had some people assigned to launch support operations during this period. On 1 July 1998, Sverdrup Technology, Inc. succeeded Brown & Root and Johnson Controls to provide launch support operations under a new contract - the Launch Operations & Support Contract (LO&SC).

Martin, Northrop and Boeing have been mentioned in connection with winged missile programs in the 1950s, but we need to say something about the role of contractors in space launch vehicle operations since that time. The latest TITAN IV, ATLAS II and DELTA II launch vehicles evolved from the TITAN , ATLAS and THOR ballistic missile programs of the late 1950s and early 1960s, so it comes as no surprise that many of the companies that launched ballistic missiles in the 1960s also launched space vehicles in the 1990s. Let's look at the TITAN IVA and IVB heavy launch vehicles first.

Like its TITAN IIIC and TITAN 34D ancestors, the TITAN IVA and IVB vehicles were configured around three stages. Stage O of the TITAN IVA consisted of two seven-segment solid rocket motors 10 feet in diameter and 112.9 feet long. Stage O of the TITAN IVB consisted of two three-segment Upgraded Solid Rocket Motors (SRMUs) 126 inches in diameter and 112.4 feet long. Though the SRMUs weren't much larger than the seven-segment solid rocket motors, they burned about 16 percent longer and provided about 200,000 extra pounds of thrust. For both vehicles, Stages I and II were fueled with a liquid propellant consisting of nitrogen tetroxide and Aerozine 50. Stage I was 10 feet in diameter and 86.5 feet long, and Stage II was 10 feet in diameter and 32.7 feet long. When it was equipped with a 29.5-foot-long CENTAUR upper stage, the TITAN IVA launch vehicle could boost a 10,000-pound payload into geosynchronous orbit. For a similarly equipped TITAN IVB, the payload could be raised to 12,700 pounds. If a TITAN IVA used a 17-foot-long Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), the payload capacity dropped to approximately 5,200 pounds. In either configuration, the TITAN IV was considered a Heavy Launch Vehicle (HLV). The tallest TITAN IV stood approximately 204 feet tall.

The Martin Company merged with the Marietta Corporation in 1961 to form Martin Marietta. Over the next 30 years, Martin Marietta was the Air Force's prime contractor for the TITAN II, TITAN III, TITAN 34D and the TITAN IV. The corporation: 1) built TITAN core stages and support equipment, 2) activated TITAN launch sites at the Cape, 3) integrated the launch vehicle with its payload and 4) launched the vehicle. On 2 January 1995, Martin Marietta merged with the Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed-Martin. For its newest vehicle, the TITAN IV, Lockheed-Martin relied heavily on subcontractors for the following systems:

Liquid Rocket Engines (Aerojet Technical Systems)
Solid Rocket Motors (United Technologies, Chemical Systems Division)
New Solid Rocket Motors (Hercules)
Guidance System (DELCO System Operations
Payload Fairing (McDonnell Douglas)
Instrumentation (SCI Systems)
Command/Control Receivers (Cincinnati Electric Corporation)

In addition to those booster-related contractors, Boeing Aerospace Operations was the Air Force's major contractor for the Inertial Upper Stage. The IUS was used on some TITAN flights, and Boeing and Lockheed-Martin served as associate contractors on those missions.

Prior to its inactivation in June 1998, the 5th Space Launch Squadron supervised TITAN IV operations with approximately 40 officers, 50 enlisted people and 10 civilians. (Those people were transferred to the 3rd Space Launch Squadron where they continued their TITAN-related activities.) Lockheed-Martin's TITAN IV launch crew consisted of 404 employees, including those workers handling CENTAUR operations associated with some TITAN IV missions.

Until 2 May 1994, General Dynamics was the principal contractor for the ATLAS II/CENTAUR, which was used to launch medium-sized commercial and military payloads from the Cape. Martin Marietta purchased General Dynamics Space Systems Division on 2 May 1994, and Martin Marietta launched its first ATLAS/CENTAUR mission from the Cape on 24 June 1994. (Martin Marietta later merged with Lockheed to form Lockheed-Martin on 2 January 1995.) The ATLAS II booster/sustainer stage was 81.7 feet long and the CENTAUR upper stage was 33 feet long. The ATLAS II was fueled with highly refined kerosene, and liquid hydrogen powered the CENTAUR's main thrusters. The CENTAUR's Reaction Control System was fueled with hydrazine. A 13-foot-long interstage adapter connected the ATLAS II and CENTAUR stages. In its tallest configuration, the ATLAS II/CENTAUR stood 156 tall. The following subcontractors provided components for the ATLAS II launch system:

Rocketdyne (ATLAS MA-5 engine)
Pratt & Whitney (CENTAUR engine)
Honeywell and Teledyne (Avionics)

In October 1998, Lockheed-Martin employed 165 people at the Cape to handle ATLAS I, ATLAS II launch operations, and it employed 413 other people in Engineering Support Services. The 3rd Space Launch Squadron supervised ATLAS II operations with approximately 12 officers, 16 enlisted people and 4 civilians. The Aerospace Corporation provided about half a dozen people to support ATLAS II activities at the Cape.

McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Division was the principal contractor for the DELTA II, which was another medium launch vehicle launched from the Cape. The DELTA II's first stage was 8 feet in diameter and 85.7 feet long. It burned highly refined kerosene. The DELTA II's second stage was 5.7 feet in diameter and 19.6 feet long. It burned nitrogen tetroxide and Aerozine 50. In the tradition of earlier DELTA launch vehicles, the DELTA II's second stage was surrounded with an 8-foot diameter casing to shelter umbilical connections and give the vehicle a "straight eight" profile. Each Delta II was equipped with nine Graphite Epoxy Motors (GEMs) to provide added thrust. With its payload fairing in place, the assembled DELTA II launch vehicle was approximately 130 feet tall. McDonnell Douglas built the core vehicle, and it relied on the following subcontractors for essential launch vehicle subsystems:

Rocketdyne (for the DELTA II's main engine)
Aerojet (for the DELTA II's second stage engine)
Alliant (for Graphite Epoxy Motors)
DELCO (for the inertial guidance system)

On 4 August 1997, Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas and took over DELTA II operations at the Cape. In October 1998, Boeing's total workforce at the Cape (including DELTA II, Inertial Upper Stage, payload processing and other space-related activities) amounted to about 3,000 people. During the same period,. the 1st Space Launch Squadron supervised DELTA II activities with 25 officers, 24 enlisted people and 5 civilians.

Prepared by Mark C. Cleary, Chief Historian
45 Space Wing Office of History
1201 Edward H. White II St., Patrick AFB, FL 32925