![]() In order to make the raw numbers meaningful, the launches may be placed in two basic categories. However, a statistical analysis of the first 50 calendar years is sufficient to discover the trends that have shaped the evolution of the Cape. The actual 50th anniversary of the first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral will not be celebrated until July 24, 2000. This period encompasses the first 50 calendar years of launch activity at the Cape, or 1950 through 1999. Not including weather rockets and sounding rockets which are not included in official launch chronologies, there have been 3,182 missile and rocket launches from Cape Canaveral from Jthrough December 19, 1999. ![]() ![]() I believe that my numbers are very good, but the reader must bear in mind that no Cape Canaveral launch chronology is absolutely accurate. I have had to interpret information I have come across while weighing the reliability of each individual source. It should be noted that the numbers I have included will not exactly match the 45th Space Wing History Office chronologies or any other. The statistical results in this paper are based on a combination of several credible Cape Canaveral launch chronologies built around the 45th Space Wing History Office chronologies. Without exception, none of the documents contained information that exactly matched the “official” Cape Canaveral launch chronologies published by the 45th Space Wing History Office. These were available from a number of sources, including books, publications, data bases and contractor reports. I subsequently spent the next several years reviewing Cape Canaveral launch chronologies published independently of the 45th Space Wing History Office. Although the 45th Space Wing History Office chronologies are excellent, they did not contain all of the information I was looking for. This request coincided with the release of the first reliable, comprehensive Cape Canaveral launch chronologies by the 45th Space Wing History Office. I had been asked by Museum leadership to consider writing a book on the history of Cape Canaveral. My own research on the subject began in 1994, shortly after I became a volunteer at the Air Force Space and Missile Museum on Cape Canaveral Air (Force) Station. Because much of the launch activity was classified and took place at a rapid pace, no one organization or individual was able to accurately maintain a list of all the launches. From that point on, launch activity at Cape Canaveral literally exploded. ![]() The first Cape launch, that of a two-stage German V-2 rocket called Bumper #8, occurred on July 24, 1950. It seems sad to say, but no one knows exactly how many rockets and missiles have been launched from Cape Canaveral. is continuing to update and publish Cape Canaveral launch statistics, we have decided not to add to or revise this document due to its historic significance, and it is presented here unaltered from its original submission. Publication was intended to coincide with the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, celebrated on July 24, 2000. Note: This article was officially presented as a “White Paper” publication for the 36th Annual Space Congress, held at Cape Canaveral, Florida in May, 2000. Painting By Numbers A Statistical Analysis Of Cape Canaveral Launches The First 50 Years
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