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America's launch center for polar-orbiting satellites and missile tests across the Pacific to Kwajalein Atoll. The Vandenberg Launch Site includes: Vandenberg AFB, California, USA, at 34.63 N 12.05 W; Air Drop Zone Point Mugu / Santa Barbara Channel, 34.00 N 120.0 W ; Point Arguello, California (later South Vandenberg), 34.61 N 12.05 W ; and Air Drop Zone Point Arguello Warning Area, 36.00 N 123.00 W.
Camp Cooke reactivated and used during the Korean War as an armored and infantry training site.
Department of Defense transferred northern portion of Camp Cooke, Calif. (now Vandenberg AFB), to the Air Force to be used as first ICBM base. The Secretary of Defense directed the United States Army to transfer 64,000 acres of Camp Cooke's 86,000 acres to the Air Force.
Vandenberg AFB established by Air Research and Development Command (ARDC) on the north 64,047 acres (approximately 100 square miles) of what was then Camp Cooke.
Start of new construction and major rehabilitation at Camp Cooke.
Air Research and Development Command activated the 704th Strategic Missile Wing (Atlas) at Cooke AFB.
Cooke AFB (with major operational and training units) transferred from Air Research and Development Command to Strategic Air Command. Launch facility construction as well as research and development activities at Cooke AFB were the responsibility of the A
19,861 acres of South Camp Cooke transferred from the Army to the Navy on interim permit basis (actual transfer on 27 May).
The Joint Navy-Air Force (Burke-White) Agreement was completed. This agreement defined the areas of responsibility between the projected Pacific Missile Range and Cooke Air Force Base.
Establishment of the U.S. Naval Missile Facility at Point Arguello, the southern portion of former Camp Cooke (facility formally commissioned on 10 May).
Formal establishment of the Navy's Pacific Missile Range (with its headquarters at Point Mugu and its major launch head at Point Arguello).
Cooke AFB redesignated Vandenberg AFB, honoring the late General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, the Air Force's second Chief of Staff. Vandenberg AFB, first operational ICBM base in free world, was dedicated.
First missile launch from Vandenberg AFB - a Thor intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM). The mission was a success.
Two Thor shots, one from Cape Canaveral and one from Vandenberg AFB, were successful. Intermediate range ballistic missile portion of PMR was inaugurated with successful firing of USAF Thor from Vandenberg AFB.
Vandenberg Air Force Base and the Pacific Missile Range declared officially operational for firings.
Integrated Weapon System Training 1. First Thor IRBM launched by British crew at Vandenberg AFB.
USAF Atlas ICBM officially declared operational and taken over by the Strategic Air Command, at Vandenberg AFB.
Major expansion of Pacific Missile Range with acquisition of Eniwetok and Kwajalein Atolls in the Marshall Islands by the United States Navy for instrumentation complexes (in support of Air Force launches from Vandenberg AFB).
Last launch of a Thor IRBM from Vandenberg. (First launch and first missile fired from Vandenberg AFB on 16 December 1958.)
First launch of an Army Nike-Zeus from Kwajalein against an Atlas from Vandenberg AFB.
First use of a Thrust-Augmented-Thor/Agena space booster at Vandenberg.
First launch in the Advanced Ballistic Reentry System (ABRES) program at Vandenberg AFB. Vehicle used for this mission was an Atlas D.
Air Staff decision that the Strategic Air Command would continue as host organization over the combined Point Arguello/Vandenberg AFB (effective 1 July 1964) with Air Force Systems Command responsible for all matters pertaining to management and operation
Point Arguello (nearly 20,000 acres) transferred from the Navy to the Air Force and annexed to Vandenberg AFB.
Five months ahead of the original schedule, Air Force Western Test Range (AFWTR) assumed responsibilities for intercontinental ballistic missile and space vehicle support functions from the Navy's Pacific Missile Range.
Last launch of a Titan I from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 3 May 1961).
Last launch of Thor/Able-Star from Vandenberg AFB. (first launch on 28 September 1963).
First launch of a Minuteman II from Vandenberg AFB.
DoD revealed that newly-authorized Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program (announced by President Lyndon Johnson the same day) would be launched from both the Air Force Eastern and Western Test Ranges.
Last Thor/Agena launch from Vandenberg AFB (first mission on 28 February 1959).
Vandenberg, adding approximately 14,890 acres to the base and increasing its size to its present 98,400 acres.
Start of construction (site preparation) for Space Launch Complex 6 facilities at former Sudden Ranch property.
Final mission of the Thor/Altair from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 18 January 1965).
Nation's initial launch of a satellite by a Titan IIIB/Agena space booster (first launch of a Titan III from Vandenberg AFB).
Initial launch of a Long Tank Thor/Agena D (Thorad/Agena D) space booster.
AFWTR supported the Navy's first launch of a Bomarc A target missile from Vandenberg AFB.
Liftoff of a Thrust-Augmented-Thor/Agena D space booster combination marked the 123rd major launch operation from Vandenberg AFB since January. This annual launch record remains unbroken 30 years later.
First and only launch of a Castor/Scramjet from Vandenberg AFB.
AFWTR assumed operational control of the range Instrumentation Ship, Vanguard
Last of three successful Atlas/Prime missions from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 21 December 1966).
Final launch of a Thrust-Augmented-Thor/Agena space booster from Vandenberg (first launch on 28 February 1963).
First of two Atlas/Burner II space launches from Vandenberg AFB.
First Minuteman III flight test missile launched from Vandenberg AFB.
Department of Defense announced cancellation of the planned Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program from Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg AFB. The cancellation was expected to save $ 1.5 billion of the projected total $ 3.0 billion program costs. The SLC-6 launch facility at Vandenberg, 90% complete, would be finished and mothballed. MOL reconnaisance systems useful on unmanned satellites would be completed for a total cost of $ 225 million. Ten thousand aerospace workers were laid off as a result of the cancellation.
Bikini Atoll (Marshall Islands) turned over to U.N. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
Final launch of the Thor/Burner II from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 15 September 1966).
Initial launch of a Titan IIID space booster from Vandenberg AFB.
The first of eight Thor/Burner IIA launches from Vandenberg AFB.
Last launch of a Thorad/Agena from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 9 August 1966).
Last of two Atlas/Burner II space launches from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 16 August 1968).
Final use of an Atlas booster in the Advanced Ballistic Reentry System (ABRES) program.
The USNS Sunnyvale, the last Air Force Western Test Range instrumentation ship, transferred to the Maritime Administration.
First use of the Minuteman I booster, replacing the Atlas, for the ABRES program.
Final launch of a Thor/Burner IIA from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 14 October 1971).
Last launch of a Titan II ICBM (first West Coast launch on 16 February 1963).
Initial launch of a Thor/Block 5D-I from the West Coast.
Final launch of an Atlas/Agena booster/upper stage combination from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 11 October 1 960).
South Vandenberg AFB brush fire consumed 9,040 acres and claimed the lives of the base commander, both fire chiefs, and a civilian bulldozer operator.
Demolition and construction work began at Space Launch Complex 6 in preparation for the Space Shuttle program.
Ferry flight, shuttle carrier aircraft/Enterprise (OV-101), Ogden to Vandenberg AFB (2 hours, 20 minutes)
Fifth and final launch of a Thor/Block 5D-I from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 11 September 1976).
Final launch of an Atlas F booster from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 1 August 1962).
Last two launches of the Navy's Bomarc target missile from Vandenberg AFB (first Bomarc launch on 25 August 1966).
Final launch of a Titan IIID from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 1 5 June 1971).
First of seven Titan 34D launches from the West Coast.
Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery at Vandenberg AFB for a series of fit checks at the orbiter lifting frame.
The Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise arrived at Vandenberg AFB for a series of facility verification tests.
First Peacekeeper ICBM 'cold launch' from an underground silo (LF08). First eight launches conducted from an above ground launch stand at Test Pad 01.
Space Launch Complex 6, site of future Space Shuttle operations, declared operational. However, much additional work and testing required.
First launch of Ground Launch Cruise Missile from Vandenberg AFB.
Last launch of the Titan IIIB/Agena (first launch on 29 July 1966).
Last Atlas H launch (first launch on 9 February 1983).
Last launch of a Minuteman II (first launch from Vandenberg AFB on 18 August 1965).
Air Force Secretary Edward C. Aldridge, Jr., directed the Air Force to begin mothballing the Space Shuttle program at Vandenberg AFB.
First Titan II standard launch vehicle (SLV), a refurbished and modified Titan II ICBM, launched from Vandenberg AFB.
Final Titan 34D launch from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 20 June 1983).
Inactivation of HQ SAMTO at Vandenberg AFB.
First attempt by a commercial firm, American Rocket Company (AMROC), to launch its SET-l/SMLV (Single Engine Test - 1/Single Module Launch Vehicle) failed on the pad at Vandenberg AFB.
Completion of Peacekeeper Rail Garrison system facilities at Vandenberg AFB.
Troops from the 30th Space Wing began deployment to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Shield.
First flight of the air-launched Pegasus space booster employing a B-52 carrier aircraft over the Western Range.
Host base responsibilities for Vandenberg AFB transferred from Strategic Air Command to Air Force Space Command.
Second and final launch of the Small ICBM missile (first launch on 11 May 1989).
WSMC and ESMC redesignated 30th Space Wing and 45th Space Wing, respectively. Simultaneously, the word 'Test' was removed from the geographic designation, 'Western Test Range.'
Initial demonstration flight of the Astrid (Advanced Single Stage Rapid Insertion) interceptor vehicle.
Final launch of the Scout booster from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 26 April 1962).
Final launch of an Atlas E booster from Vandenberg AFB (first launch on 7 June 1961).
First launch from Space Launch Complex 6 involved the Lockheed Launch Vehicle I (LLV-1), carrying the commercial satellite GEMSTAR.
