File image of Atlas rocket launching from pad 36A. Photo: Lockheed Martin

The U.S. Air Force's launch pad 36A at Cape Canaveral where Atlas rockets have been flown for 40 years is being turned over to Lockheed Martin for caretaking under a new $5.8 million contract that will keep the facility quasi-operational until the service comes up with money for deactivation.

Complex 36 features two pads -- the government's 36A and the commercial 36B -- where Lockheed Martin Atlas 2 and Atlas 3 families of rockets are launched.

After the operating contract for the site expired last December, the Air Force and Lockheed Martin negotiated a new agreement that will see pad 36A idled but still capable of being brought back into service with six month's notice.

Lockheed Martin will be responsible for performing routine maintenance at pad 36A such as keeping equipment in good working order and calibrated.

"We will be performing maintenance like you would on your car," said Adrian Laffitte, Lockeed Martin's Atlas program director.

For the Air Force, the agreement with Lockheed Martin ensures the pad is available for use if a national crisis dictates a quick launch while also keeping the facility safe.

The caretaker contract extends through September 2002 -- the end of the government's Fiscal Year. The Air Force is expected to receive funds in the FY '03 budget for deactivating pad 36A, said Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Alana Austin.

"Because it can't be deactivated till 2003, we have to maintain the safety of the structure," Austin said.

Keeping the pad usable will also be to the benefit of Lockheed Martin. Under the terms of the new contract the company will be permitted to spend its own money to bring the pad out of caretaker status to a launch configuration to fly commercial rocket missions from the site.

Having both pad 36A and 36B available will allow Lockheed Martin flexibility in scheduling its launches. An Atlas typically spends about a month on the pad before it lifts off.

Aerial view of Complex 36. Photo: Lockheed Martin/ILS

When Lockheed Martin uses pad 36A for launches, the Air Force would stop paying the caretaker fee from the time the rocket is erected on the stand until T+plus 7 days, Laffitte explained.

"We are looking at all the missions," Laffitte says of the Lockheed Martin's launch schedule and the need for two pads. "If we feel it would be to our convenience, we would (use pad 36A)."

Pad 36A is only used to launch the Atlas 2 series of rockets. Neighboring pad 36B has undergone modifications to support the new Russian-powered Atlas 3 while still being able to support Atlas 2.

Lockheed Martin envisions the curtain to come down on Complex 36 in 2004 or 2005 as the company's launches are shifted completely to the next-generation Atlas 5 vehicles from Complex 41.

The Complex 36 pads were built in the early 1960s under NASA's sponsorship.