LC-34 and its companion LC-37 to the north were used by NASA from 1961 through 1968 to launch Saturn I and IB rockets as part of the Apollo program.

It was the site of the Apollo 1 fire, which claimed the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee on January 27, 1967.

The service tower was likewise mounted on rails, and it was moved to a position 185 meters west of the pad before launch.

On November 29, 1963, following the death of President John F. Kennedy, his successor Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11129 renaming both NASA's Merrit Island Launch Operations Center and "the facilities of Station No.

1 of the Atlantic Missile Range" (a reference to Canaveral AFB) the "John F. Kennedy Space Center".

At the 67-meter level, the swing arm was outfitted with a white room to permit access to the command module at the top of a rocket.

After the fire, extinguishing equipment was installed at the top of the umbilical tower, and a slide wire was set up to provide astronauts a quick escape in the event of an emergency.

NASA considered reactivating both LC-34 and LC-37 for the Apollo Applications Program, but instead LC-39B was modified to launch Saturn IBs.

[2][3] After the decommissioning of LC-34, the umbilical tower and service structure were razed, leaving only the launch platform standing at the center of the pad.

The original spherical Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank at LC-34 was purchased by SpaceX in 2008, moved to LC-40, refurbished (cleaned, pressure tested, painted white), and now used for Falcon 9 flights.