Minuteman Delta 01 Launch Control Facility, South Dakota

This is the only formerly operational Minuteman Missile Launch Control Facility that is preserved by the federal government and open to the public. It is part of the National Park Service’s Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, which includes a Visitor Center five miles away, and missile silo ten miles away. The Launch Control Facility is typical of the 15 Minuteman Missile launch control centers in South Dakota built in the early 1960s and supported by Ellsworth Air Force Base, each of which remotely controlled ten unmanned missile silos. The Launch Control Facility had an institutional ranch style house at the surface, where the three-shift Air Force crew and support personnel lived. 30 feet below the building, and behind a blast door, is the underground launch control facility, which was continuously manned by two Missileers, between 1963 and 1993. Known as Delta-O1, this, and a silo called Delta-09, were selected for preservation as historic sites due to their exemplary qualities, and proximity to interstate exits. The other Launch Control Facilities and silos in the state were destroyed with explosives, in accordance with international arms reduction treaties. 450 Minuteman III ICBM silos in other states remain operational. Guided tours of Delta-01 are available by appointment, based out of the Visitor Center.