View source for Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 8

<!-- {{Launching/Minotaur |type=launch site |role=support a launch}} -->
{{Infobox launch pad
|name = Space Launch Complex 8
|image = Minotaur_1_with_Streak_(23_Sep._2005).jpg
|caption = A [[Minotaur (rocket)|Minotaur]] rocket launches [[Streak (satellite)|Streak]] from SLC-8.
|site = [[Vandenberg Space Force Base]]
|short = SLC-8
|location = {{coord|34.5762|N|120.6324|W|format=dms}}
| utc_offset      = −08:00
| time_zone       = [[Pacific Standard Time|PST]]
| utc_offset_DST  = −07:00
| time_zone_DST   = [[Pacific Daylight Time|PDT]]
| operator        = {{Unbulleted list
   | [[United States Space Force]] (owner)
   | [[Northrop Grumman]] (tenant)
   }}
|inclination = 51° – 145°
| paddetails  = 
  {{Infobox launch pad/pad <!--add one of these templates for each pad in the complex -->
  | designation  = <!-- name of the individual launch pad -->
  | status       = Active
  | launches     = 9
  | first_launch = 27 January 2000
  | first_details= <!-- Rocket and payload of first launch -->
  | last_launch  = 11 August 2011
  |rockets = [[Minotaur I]] (current)<br/>[[Minotaur IV]] (current)<br/>[[Athena I]] (proposed)<br/>[[Athena II]] (proposed)
  }}
}}
'''Space Launch Complex 8''' ('''SLC-8'''), is a [[launch pad]] at [[Vandenberg Space Force Base]] in [[California]], [[United States]]. It is currently only used by [[Minotaur (rocket)|Minotaur]] rockets. It was originally part of the [[California Spaceport]] and was known as the '''Commercial Launch Facility''' ('''CLF''') or '''Space Launch Facility''' ('''SLF''').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calspace.com/SSI/SLC-8_Overview.html |title=SLC-8 Overview |date=1999 |publisher=Spaceport Systems International}}</ref> In addition to supporting occasional Minotaur rockets, SLC-8 is capable of hosting small launch vehicles thanks to a new clean pad built in 2019; as of 2024, this has not been used.<ref name = "FAA">{{cite web |title=Spaceports By State |url=https://www.faa.gov/space/spaceports_by_state |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407060911/https://www.faa.gov/space/spaceports_by_state |archive-date=April 7, 2024 |website=faa.gov}}</ref> Much like the Minotaur rocket family itself, SLC-8 has seen little use since the early 2010s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/sites/vangslc8.htm|title=Vandenberg SLC8|first=Mark|last=Wade|publisher=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]]|access-date=2008-09-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919132536/http://www.astronautix.com/sites/vangslc8.htm|archive-date=2008-09-19}}</ref>

As of May 2024, nine rockets - six [[Minotaur I]] and three [[Minotaur IV]] - have been launched from SLC-8.

== Pad description ==
SLC-8 was built in the late 1990s to support Minotaur rockets from Vandenberg, and is the southernmost launch complex at the base. It is the fourth launch site at Vandenberg to support the Minotaur family, after TP-01, SLC-576E, and LF-06. Minotaur launches from SLC-8 are controlled from the Integrated Processing Facility (IPF) at the neighboring Space Launch Complex 6, which itself was originally built for Space Shuttle payload processing. Other launches from the complex can be controlled from a new launch control center at north Vandenberg.<ref name = "ccsm"/>

Minotaur rockets are assembled and prepared for flight inside an 88-foot-tall mobile assembly gantry built around 2005. The Minotaur launch mount is rated for launch vehicles up to 150 tons in mass and one million pounds of thrust.<ref name = "ccsm">{{cite web |title=Spaceports By State |url=https://ccspacemuseum.org/facilities/space-launch-complex-8/ |website=ccspacemuseum.org}}</ref>

The clean pad, measuring 15 by 15 feet of reinforced concrete, is available for small launch vehicles of up to 20 tons in mass and was built in 2019. Two adjacent pads were also built to host fuel and oxidizer equipment. Companies using the pad must bring their own ground support equipment.<ref name = "FAA"/>

== Rocket configuration ==


{{ #invoke:Chart | bar chart
| float = center
| width = 800
| height = 400
| stack = 1
| group 1 =  2:0:0:0:0: 2:1:0:0:0: 0:1:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0 <!-- Minotaur I -->
| group 2 =  0:0:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0:0: 2:1:0:0:0: 0:0:0:0 <!-- Minotaur IV -->
| colors = MediumTurquoise : Teal
| group names = [[Minotaur I]] : [[Minotaur IV]]
| x legends = 2000::::: 2005::::: 2010::::: 2015:::
| units suffix = _launches
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Coord|34.5762|N|120.6324|W|display=title|region:US-CA_type:landmark}}
{{Vandenberg Air Force Base launch sites}}

[[Category:Vandenberg Space Force Base]]

{{rocketry-stub}}