The Eastern Range (ER) is an American rocket range (Spaceport) that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida.[1]: 5 [2] The range has also supported Ariane launches from the Guiana Space Centre as well as launches from the Wallops Flight Facility and other lead ranges.[1]: 7 The range also uses instrumentation operated by NASA at Wallops and KSC.[1]: 12
The range can support launches between 37° and 114° azimuth.[3] The headquarters of the range is now the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Space Force Base.[1]: 1
The history of the Eastern Range began on 18 October 1940, with the activation of the Banana River Naval Air Station which supported antisubmarine sea-patrol planes during World War II. The station was deactivated and put into a caretaker status on 1 September 1947.[1]: 5 [4]
Launches of captured German V-2 rockets had been ongoing since the end of World War II at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico, but it became clear that a much longer range away from heavily populated areas would be needed.[5] The Joint Research and Development Board established the Committee on the Long Range Proving Ground in October 1946 to study locations for such a range, with three potential sites emerging: along the northern coast of Washington state with a range along the Aleutian Islands; El Centro, California, with a range along the Baja California Peninsula; and Banana River Naval Air Station with a launch site at Cape Canaveral and a range over the Bahamas and into the Atlantic Ocean.[4][5] The Washington site was quickly discarded due to difficulties with support due to cold weather and remoteness.[4] El Centro was put forth as the primary choice (due to being close to missile manufacturers) with the Cape as second choice.[4][5] However, the El Centro site had to be abandoned after a wayward V-2 missile from White Sands crashed into a cemetery in Juarez, Mexico, leading to then Mexican President Miguel Alemán Valdés refusing to allow missiles to overfly Baja.[4][5]
The U.S. Navy transferred the Banana River Naval Air Station to the U.S. Air Force on 1 September 1948,[4] and it remained on standby status. On 11 May 1949, President Truman signed Public Law 60 which established the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base.[4][5][6] On 10 June 1949, the Banana River Naval Air Station was redesignated the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base and Advance Headquarters, Joint Long Range Proving Ground and the Air Force Division, Joint Long Range Proving Ground was established.[4][5][6] On 16 May 1950 and 17 May 1950, range and base dropped the "Joint" in their names due to a DoD decision earlier in the year to put the range exclusively under U. S. Air Force jurisdiction.[4][6] On 24 July 1950, Bumper #8 became the first missile to launch from the Cape Canaveral.[5][6]