After World War II the United States Army captured 200 German rocket scientists and 300 rail cars full of V-2 rocket parts, the latter of which were later reassembled and used as sounding rockets to test components and instruments and/or to collect engineering and scientific data at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico from 1945 through 1952. During one such test on May 29, 1947, a modified V-2 veered off course and crashed near a populated area in Juarez, Mexico, just south of El Paso, TX. No one was hurt but a 50 foot by 24 foot crater was left by the impact of the four and a half ton rocket, which had no explosive warhead, hitting the ground at approximately 720 miles per hour.

This incident led to more strict range safety procedures, which can be overseen manually or automatically. For the last several decades every rocket flies with some form of flight termination system. This is an independently powered, usually by battery, explosive device that can be triggered remotely by the United States Space Force (USSF) in the event the launch vehicle departs from its intended trajectory. Historically, this capability required USSF resources to plan for and monitor any rocket launching from the eastern or western range. A newer system called the Automated Flight Safety System (AFSS) uses GPS and various tracking sensors to automatically terminate the vehicle if it goes off course. The benefits of this system are reduced resource requirements from USSF and dependency on ground stations, which are sometimes unavailable due to maintenance. Since less manpower is required when using AFSS the range is more flexible and nimble with companies like SpaceX who are launching at a rate of more than once a week while ensuring public safety.