Acoustical analysis of historical launch vehicle noise from Vandenberg Space Force Base

Vandenberg Space Force Base has been launching rockets for different purposes since 1958. Many of these vehicles are retired, making it impossible to collect new launch noise data. However, ManTech SRS Technologies, Inc. has collected recordings from launch vehicles at VSFB for over two decades, including many of these historical vehicles. These include the Titan II, Athena, Delta II, Taurus, TaurusLite, and others. Recordings of these vehicles are useful in investigating the evolution of launch vehicle noise and noise characteristics for different vehicle types. Of the measurements made by ManTech, generally, one location was recorded at each launch, all between 1 and 10 km away from the pad, but some launches feature multiple recording locations. Each recording has been used to calculate the maximum overall sound pressure level, peak frequency, and other metrics. Trajectory estimates potentially allow for sound power calculations for some vehicles, which can be compared to both the available literature and more recent measurements and analysis (e.g., the Falcon 9). [Work supported by USSF through USACE.]