Written by 
SLC-3 Cape Canaveral AFS site of the first Florida Space Coast rocket launch.
Here was where it all started for Florida’s Space Coast. On July 24th 1950 a Bumper 8 rocket was successfully launched from SLC-3 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This monumentous event was the first step towards putting a man on the Moon and our current Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs with men living in space for long periods of time.
Launch Pad 3 was built in the early 1950s alongside pads 1,2 and 4. Originally these were designated for the Snark Missile program, but Snarks were never launched from LC-3. The inaugural launch was july 24th 1950 and the missions were flown out in January 1958.
44 missions were flown from SLC-3 and included Bumper, Bomarc, Matador,X-17, and Polaris rockets and missiles.
After the launch pad was decommissioned it was used as a medical facility supporting the Project Mercury Missions. All that remains of this historic site are some scorch marks on the concrete and some bolt heads used to mount the rocket launch structure.
