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Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS – was also formerly known, between 1963 to 1973, as Cape Kennedy Air Force Station) is an installation operated by the U.S. Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing. CCAFS is the primary launch site of the U.S. Eastern Range. A runway, consisting of the 10,000-foot (3,000 meter) long Skid Strip is used to bring in large payloads as close to the launch sites (Space Launch Complexes 37B, 40 & 41 at present) as possible. The Cape is where the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1 (1958), the first U.S. astronaut Alan B. Shepard to reach space (1961) and the first U.S. astronaut to reach orbit, John H. Glenn, (1962) launched from. Photos courtesy: Mike Deep, Jason Rhian
