location_of_landing sts-67
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the U . S . National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ), as part of the Space Shuttle program . Its official program name was " Space Transportation System ( STS )", taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development . The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981 , leading to operational flights beginning in 1982 . Five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011 , launched from the ___MASK34___ ( KSC ) in Florida . Operational missions launched numerous satellites , interplanetary probes , and the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ); conducted science experiments in orbit ; and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station . The Shuttle fleet ' s total mission time was 1322 days , 19 hours , 21 minutes and 23 seconds . The John F . ___MASK34___ ( KSC ) is one of ten National Aeronautics and Space Administration field centers . Since December 1968 , ___MASK34___ has been NASA ' s primary launch center of human spaceflight . Launch operations for the Apollo , Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from ___MASK34___ Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC . Located on the east coast of Florida , KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ( CCAFS ). The management of the two entities work very closely together , share resources , and even own facilities on each other ' s property . STS - 67 was a human spaceflight mission using Space Shuttle Endeavour that launched from ___MASK34___ , Florida on 2 March 1995 . The Space Shuttle program , officially called the Space Transportation System ( STS ), was the United States government ' s manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011 , administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972 . The Space Shuttle system  composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank  carried up to eight astronauts and up to of payload into low Earth orbit ( LEO ). When its mission was complete , the orbiter would re - enter the Earth ' s atmosphere and land like a glider at either the ___MASK34___ or ___MASK74___ . Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ( CCAFS ) ( known as Cape Kennedy Air Force Station from 1963 to 1973 ) is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command ' s 45th Space Wing , headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base . Located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County , Florida , CCAFS is the primary launch head of America ' s Eastern Range with three launch pads currently active ( Space Launch Complexes 37B , 40 , and 41 ). Popularly known as " Cape Kennedy " from 1963 to 1973 , and as " Cape Canaveral " from 1949 to 1963 and from 1973 to the present , the facility is south - southeast of NASA ' s ___MASK34___ on adjacent Merritt Island , with the two linked by bridges and causeways . The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Skid Strip provides a runway close to the launch complexes for military airlift aircraft delivering heavy and outsized payloads to the Cape . Launch Complex 39 ( LC - 39 ) is a rocket launch site at the John F . ___MASK34___ on Merritt Island in Florida , United States . The site and its collection of facilities were originally built for the Apollo program , and later modified for the Space Shuttle program . As of 2016 , its launch pads are being modified to support launches of the SpaceX Falcon 9 , Dragon 2 and Falcon Heavy , and NASA ' s Space Launch System , with a new , smaller pad , C , added to support smaller launches .