SM-65 | United States Air Force

Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

Find an Atlas missile site, compare the D, E, and F launch systems, and follow the history of America's first operational ICBM from its first alert through retirement.

Find an Atlas site Read the program history

General Bernard Schriever stands beside an Atlas missile

General Bernard Schriever beside an Atlas missile. U.S. Air Force photograph.

1959First Atlas operational alert

1965End of ICBM service

D / E / FThree deployed variants

13States in the site directory

Start with a place

Use the site directory to browse individual launch facilities by state and parent Air Force base.

13Atlas site directoryBrowse every inventory entry by state, with site links and approximate location points. WYF.E. Warren missile fieldAtlas D and E facilities in Wyoming and neighboring states. KSKansas Atlas sitesForbes Atlas E and Schilling Atlas F launch facilities. TXTexas Atlas sitesDyess Atlas F sites and the Texas site associated with Altus.

Three ways to base an Atlas

The launch structures changed more dramatically than the missile's familiar silhouette.

Atlas D: shared complexesEarly operational missiles used exposed gantries or above-ground coffin shelters. Several launchers shared a control complex. Atlas E: buried coffinIndividual launch facilities stored the missile horizontally in a partly buried shelter, then raised it before launch. Atlas F: vertical siloEach missile stood inside a hardened underground silo and was lifted to the surface for launch.

Explore the deployment fields

These base histories explain how the dispersed launch sites worked as missile squadrons.

Atlas D

Early shared launch complexes.

Atlas E

Dispersed, partly buried coffin launchers.

Atlas F, central fields

Vertical silo complexes in the Great Plains and Southwest.

Atlas F, northeastern field

New York and Vermont launch sites connected to Plattsburgh.

Follow the Atlas story

Development, deployment, construction, operations, and the physical remains of the sites.

Program summaryHow the Atlas became the first American operational intercontinental ballistic missile. Development historyThe engineering program, flight testing, and the race to put an ICBM on alert. Building the sitesExcavation, shelter designs, engineering changes, and the nationwide construction effort. Deployment strategyWhy fields were dispersed and how launcher protection evolved. Atlas timelineMajor milestones from flight testing through the last operational alert. Tour an Atlas F siloExplore what remained of a vertical Atlas F launch complex after the missile era.

A short service, a lasting footprint

Atlas entered service during the first, fast-moving years of the American ICBM program. Its thin stainless-steel airframe depended on internal pressure, and its liquid-oxygen system required demanding ground support. The D, E, and F deployments show how quickly the Air Force moved from exposed launchers toward hardened, dispersed facilities.

Atlas left strategic service by 1965 as newer missile systems took over. Former launch areas, buried shelters, silos, access roads, and support facilities still shape many local landscapes. Their later ownership, access, and environmental histories vary from site to site.

Find an individual Atlas launch site

How this directory is organized: Atlas D entries can describe a multi-launcher complex; Atlas E and F entries usually describe individual launch facilities. The Vandenberg test facilities are listed separately from the operational fields. A mapped point is not a property boundary or an invitation to enter.

Map of Atlas D, E, and F missile deployment areas across the United States — Atlas D, E, and F deployment areas. Use the site directory for individual locations.