Aerojet Dade Rocket Facility

History of the Aerojet Dade Rocket Facility

In 1957, Sputnik was launched, becoming the first human-made object to orbit the Earth. This event sparked a space race between the United States and the Soviet Union to see who could land on the moon first.

The Aerojet 260 was an experimental solid rocket motor developed and tested by Aerojet for NASA in the mid-1960s. Designed to explore the feasibility of solid rocket motors for space exploration, it was initially considered for use as a lower-stage booster for the Saturn V. NASA awarded parallel development contracts to Aerojet and Thiokol, but Aerojet ultimately prevailed after Thiokol’s test chamber failed at 56% of proving pressure during a stress test. The failure occurred because warnings from a newly introduced Acoustical Non-Destructive Test system were disregarded in favor of conventional strain gauge readings, which showed no issues. In contrast, Aerojet’s motor chambers withstood testing due to improved heat treatment and welding techniques.

A small debate arose about using liquid-fuel rocket engines, solid-fuel rocket motors, or a combination of both. Solid-fueled rockets were best favored for the initial launch, able to lift over 100,000 pounds of payload through the atmosphere. But once free of Earth’s orbit, liquid fuel seemed to be the best route to take.

The test director for the program was Will Spratling, while Dick Cottrell, Vice President of Aerojet’s Solid Rocket Plant, served as the program manager. The development of the massive 260-inch motor required significant resources, prompting the relocation of many Aerojet personnel to a newly established Florida facility led by Paul Datner. Given the scale and complexity of the project, the Florida site integrated facilities for motor and propellant production, static testing, and various support functions. The sheer size of the rocket motors made rail transport unfeasible, as casing diameters were limited to 156 inches. To address this, Aerojet constructed a canal to its Florida facility, enabling booster delivery via barge.

Aerojet acquired land for the plant less than five miles from Everglades National Park. Aerojet paid $2.50 an acre per year for an annual lease with an option to buy up to 25,000 acres more at nickels on the dollar.

The diameter of the rocket motors made transport by rail impossible, as casings were restricted to a 156-inch diameter. To solve this problem, Aerojet constructed a new canal leading to their facility in Florida, which allowed for delivery of the boosters by barge. From the facility to Barnes Sound on the Atlantic Ocean, the C-111, now known as the Aerojet Canal, was dug even though it was close to the Everglades National Park, as economic development of the region won in favor of any environmental conflicts the canal would cause.

The AJ-260 Rocket Motor

Aerojet now needed a cylindrical chamber to withstand the force and power that space-faring rockets would cause. After much research, they decided to subcontract the fabrication of 260-inch-diameter, 24m long chambers to Sun Ship and Dry Dock Company located in Chester, Pennsylvania. The chambers were designed in short length, meaning half the size of the final product. Both motors used a propellant burning rate and nozzle size appropriate for the full-length design.

In March 1965, two rocket chambers were delivered to the plant. At the time, the C-111 canal was incomplete, so the rocket chambers were barged down from Chester, Pennsylvania, to Homestead via the Intracoastal Waterway and then trucked in from Biscayne Bay. A large amount of propellant needed for such a rocket was manufactured at the Everglades plant. As the chamber was trucked three miles south of the main facility to the test firing site, the propellant was mixed, analyzed, and produced to fill the rocket motor chamber.

The largest solid rocket motors ever built, Aerojet’s three 260-inch monolithic solid motors cast were 260 inches in diameter, nearly 81 feet long, and weighing 929 tons. The nozzle throat was large enough to walk through standing up. The motor was capable of serving as a 1-to-1 replacement for the 8-engine Saturn I liquid-propellant first stage but was never used as such.

A rocket silo was built into the ground, and between Sept. 25, 1965, and June 17, 1967, three static test firings were done. 260 SL-1 was fired at night, and the flame was visible from Miami 50 km away, producing over 3 million pounds of thrust. SL-2 was fired with similar success and relatively uneventful. Despite having two chambers, the SL-2 rocket chamber was reused for a third and final firing test. Dubbed the SL-3, it used a partially submerged nozzle and produced 2,940 tons of thrust, making it the largest and most powerful solid-fuel rocket motor ever built.

Near burnout, the rocket nozzle ejected, spreading propellant made of hydrochloric acids across wetlands in the Everglades, crop fields, and homes in Homestead. Many residents of Homestead complained about the damage, which included paint damage to their cars and the killing of thousands of dollars worth of crops.

Closure

Although the tests were deemed successful, by 1969, NASA had used liquid-fueled engines for Apollo’s Saturn V rockets. As Aerojet’s funding for the Florida site dwindled, the facility was decided to be shut down.

In 1986, after NASA awarded Morton Thiokol the Space Shuttle booster contract, Aerojet sued the State of Florida and sold most of its land holdings to the South Dade Land Corporation for $6 million. After many unsuccessful attempts to use the land for farming, the land was sold again to the State of Florida for $12 million. Aerojet would later trade its remaining 5,100 acres in South Florida for 55,000 acres in New Mexico.

In February 2010, Rodney Erwin, representing the Omega Space Systems Group, proposed to the Homestead City Council to resurrect the vacant Aerojet facility as a new rocket plant. Though Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman supported the plan, citing the need for jobs, the water management district immediately shot down the idea.

CIA Operations

In 1961, the CIA established a presence at Building 25 on the South Campus of the University of Miami, transforming it into a covert listening post. Under the codename JMWAVE, the facility became the operations hub for Operation Mongoose, a secret initiative aimed at toppling Cuba’s Communist regime. The operation involved U.S. Special Forces, sabotage of Cuban sugar crops, and the strategic mining of Cuban harbors.

JMWAVE reached its height in late 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Between 1962 and 1965, it expanded to become the CIA’s largest station outside its Virginia headquarters. At its peak, JMWAVE employed an estimated three to four hundred professional operatives and provided training and support to over fifteen thousand anti-Castro exiles in commando tactics and espionage, facilitating numerous raids against Cuba.

During this time, the CIA became Miami’s largest employer. It operated through its leading front company, Zenith Technical Enterprises Inc., and three to four hundred additional front companies across South Florida. The agency also maintained numerous safe houses, businesses, and other assets. JMWAVE’s influence was so extensive that it caused an economic boom in South Florida. By then, the CIA’s presence had become an open secret among local government officials and law enforcement.

On June 26, 1964, Look magazine exposed Zenith Technical Enterprises as a CIA front. By 1968, JMWAVE was deemed obsolete, and concerns over potential embarrassment for the University of Miami led to its deactivation.

Tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States reached an all-time high in the 1980s, during a period known as the “Second Cold War.” This was followed by the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, ultimately leading to the deaths of around one million civilians. Tensions were further heightened when the US deployed Pershing II missiles in West Germany. This was followed up by a NATO conducted a military exercise known as “Able Archer 83” in November 1983. The realistic simulation of a nuclear attack by NATO forces caused considerable alarm in the USSR and is regarded by many historians to be the closest the world came to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

CIA operatives were sent once again to South Florida, setting up at the former Richmond Air Station and other vacant facilities, such as the HM-95 Nike Missile Site, where a mobile command center could be used in the event of a nuclear crisis. Due to its remoteness and proximity to the former HM-69 Nike Missile Site, a carpet manufacturing business was established at the vacant Aerojet facility. These facilities were dismantled in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 due to the damages they sustained and were deemed obsolete following the Cold War.

Restoration of the Wetlands

In early 2010, the district made plans to overhaul the damage done to the wetlands by the C-111 canal. The canal had been sucking water that once flowed into Florida Bay and piping it 20 miles the wrong way ever since it was dug. Parts of the facility have been scrapped, and the building doorways have been blocked off by mounds of dirt.

South Florida Water Management (SFWMD) dismantled the shed which sat over the silo around May 2013, and the silo itself was covered with concrete bridge supports. Aerojet Road ran 3 miles south of the facility to the test firing site and is now a bird-watching trail. The final SL-3 rocket motor was left in its silo and covered with steel plates, making it, along with the other remaining sheds. Possibly due to the high number of trespassers, many of the structures have been dismantled, and cement beams were placed upon the steep plates of the silo.

Murders

Due to the facility’s remote location, it has become the site of multiple murders and unsolved cases. In September 2013, 18-year-old Jesus Trejo went missing after leaving his home to meet some “white dude” out in the Everglades, according to his aunt. This information led police to Aerojet Road, where Trejo’s car was found abandoned. After an extensive search, his body was found in the nearby canal with a gunshot wound to the head and bite marks showing signs that an alligator had attacked him in the water. His killer was never found.

Later that same year, 21-year-old Christian Joseph McKenzie left his house on November 14, 2013, and never showed up to work. Police investigated and found his truck in a remote area of southwest Miami-Dade. The following morning, an officer found his body along the Aerojet canal with a gunshot wound in his upper torso.

On January 23, 2015, detectives were able to recover McKenzie’s firearm and determined that he was shot with his own gun. Between physical evidence and witness testimonies, they found 21-year-old Juan Salgado as the culprit in the killing. Salgado was already incarcerated for unrelated charges at the time he was charged with murder. In my book, Lost Miami: Stories and Secrets Behind Magic City Ruins, you can read about the old Aerojet Rocket Development Facility and many other abandoned places.

Photo Gallery

Video Gallery