Launch Complex 25 was a four-pad launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads...

, Florida built for test flights of the US Navy's submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

-launched ballistic missiles Polaris, Posidon and Trident from 1958–1979.

Pads 25A and 25B were built in 1957. Pads 25C and 25D were added in May 1968 for the larger Poseidon. The blockhouse eventually served all four pads. It was was extensively reinforced when the Poseidon pads, 25C and 25D, were added.

Pad 25B was initially built with an underground launch mechanism known as a ship motion simulator to simulate the roll and pitch of a submarine. It was first used August 14, 1959 and was mothballed in October 1961.

The launch complex was dismantled in 1979.

Launch history

• Polaris FTV: 19 launches (April 18, 1958–October 2, 1959)
• Polaris A-1: 16 launches (March 9, 1960–December 5, 1961)
• Polaris A-2: 14 launches (November 10, 1960–March 5, 1965)
• Polaris A-3: 11 launches (February 11, 1963–July 3, 1964)
• Posidon: 16 launches (August 16, 1968–June 29, 1970)
• Trident I: 18 launches (January 18, 1977–January 22, 1979)