The mobile launcher is a transportable launch base constructed in the early 1960s and used for the Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz Test Program, and the Space Transportation System [Space Shuttle] programs. Three mobile launchers were used at Kennedy Space Center’s Complex 39. MLP-3 is currently undergoing demolition following the demolition of MLP-2. The demolition is ongoing to make way for more advanced mobile launchers to support the new launch systems coming online at Kennedy Space Center.

The base of the mobile launcher is a two-story steel structure, 25 feet high, 160 feet long, and 135 feet wide. It is positioned on six steel pedestals 22 feet high when in the VAB or at the launch pad. In the image above, the Saturn V vehicle supporting Apollo 11 is seen atop ML-1, which was eventually renamed MLP-3 after being renovated to support the Space Shuttle program. Additionally, the launch umbilical tower was removed from the platform for its use during the Shuttle program. Image credit: NASA

A selection of views of the demolition of MLP-3 taken in late July 2023. The tower in the background at right is the Launch Complex 39 Observation Gantry.

Besides Apollo 11 in 1969, ML-3 also was used for the last time to launch STS-135, the last of the space shuttle missions in 2011. This historic platform supported the following missions in launch order:

APOLLO: 4, 8, 11
SKYLAB: 2, 3, 4
Apollo-Soyuz Test Program
Space Transportation System (STS): 32, 35, 40, 48, 42, 50, 52, 55, 51, 60, 65, 66, 71, 73, 75, 78, 80, 83, 85, 89, 88, 99, 92, 102, 105, 110, 112, 114, 124, 126, 133, 135