* Vandenberg Air Force Base

Vandenberg Air Force Base

Established in 1941, Vandenberg Air Force Base is located in Santa Barbara County. It is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also performs space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.

The base contains 99,604 acres of land, operates approximately 16 launch facilities and complexes, and maintains the second largest airfield runway in the Department of Defense, which is 15,000 feet long.

On November 12, 1960 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, an Agena-B rocket was launched carrying Discoverer 17 (also known as Corona 9012), an optical reconnaissance satellite. On board Discoverer were a secret panoramic camera, a biological research payload (the satellite's official purpose), and perhaps 28 pieces of mail similar to the present example. This was, as USAF Chief of Staff White writes, "the first time that letters have been sent by a satellite ... in the tradition of airmen who less than thirty years ago pioneered in the first use of airmail." After "travelling ... at speeds greater than 18,000 miles per hour," the photographic film and the mail were returned to Earth in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle that separated off from Discoverer. The SRV, descending by parachute, was captured over the mid-Pacific by the grappling hooks of the USAF plane Pelican 2. These first pieces of orbital mail were delivered only to the elite of the political, defense, and aviation worlds. A piece traced at auction was sent to the first NASA Administrator.

SATELLITE AND MISSILE LAUNCH COVERS postmarked Lompoc, CA Vandenberg AFB

1975

• January 9, 1975 Titan II
• January 19, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
• January 22, 1975 Landsat II ERTS-B Satellite Launch
• January 29, 1975 SAC Minuteman
• February 5, 1975 Minuteman III Instant ICBM
• March 6, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
• March 9, 1975 Satellite lifted into orbit by the Titan III
• March 9, 1975 AFSATCOM launched by Titan 3b
• March 20, 1975 Bomarc Target
• April 9, 1975 GEOS-C Satellite Launch Thor-Delta Booster
• April 10, 1975 Bomarc Target
• April 12, 1975 Destroyed In Flight. Satellite toward Polar Orbit by the Atlas.
• April 18, 1975 Satellite Launch toward Polar Orbit by the Titan
• April 18, 1975 SAMOS 102 launched by Titan 3b
• May 6, 1975 Minuteman III Instant ICBM
• May 9, 1975 Minuteman I Instant ICBM
• May 16, 1975 Minuteman III Successful Rocket Test by the US Air Force
• May 22, 1975 Bomarc Target Missile destroyed by Air to Air or Ground to Air Missiles
• May 23, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
• May 23, 1975 Thor Booster Satellite Launch toward Polar Orbit
• May 23, 1975 ESAF DOD Defense Meteorological Satellite launched by the Thor-Burner 2
• June 1, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM