During this final test of the "pathfinder" phase of operations, intended to validate the new facility systems and their integrated operations with the launch vehicle, the team loaded the super-cold propellants on board the Atlas V and conducted several tests in a simulated launch-day fueling timeline.

"This successful tanking test is a giant step forward in getting ready for our debut Atlas V mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base next year," said Jim Sponnick, Atlas Program vice president for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.

"The team proved the readiness of the refurbished launch pad to support a launch operation with a very clean test of the propellant loading systems and vehicle systems checkout procedures. "The fact that this integrated test was accomplished 18 months to the day after the last Atlas IIAS launch from this pad is a tribute to the Atlas team, our suppliers and our U.S. government team members, who have truly partnered on this exceptional project."

SLC-3E is constructed with a stationary launch pad using a traditional mobile service tower, in contrast to facilities at Cape Canaveral where the rocket is stacked in a vertical integration facility and then rolled to the launch pad 12 hours before launch.

Several of the former SLC-3E facilities were retained or modified while integrating numerous improvements from the East Coast Atlas V program.

Groundbreaking for Space Launch Complex 3 East refurbishment took place in January 2004. Just 14 months later, the Vandenberg Atlas team received the first actual flight hardware with the arrival of the Atlas V booster and Centaur upper stage in early March of this year.

Additional activities including demonstration testing for payload operations will continue leading up to initial launch capability later this year. The first launch from SLC-3E is planned for 2006.

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