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May 17, 2008
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Kodiak Launch Complex
| Country: | USA |
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Details
The Kodiak Launch Complex is a test site located at Kodiak Island, Alaska. From this complex, the U.S. military frequently launches test missiles, which then travel across the Pacific Ocean towards the Kwajalein Test Range in the Marshall Islands, from which missile defense interceptors are launched to intercept them.
In service since 1998, Kodiak is an all-weather launch complex owned and operated by the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation. Although located on a 3,100 acre site, the actual facility constitutes only 27 acres. The complex is divided between four main sites: the Launch Control and Management Center; the Payload Processing Facility; the Integration and Processing Facility/Spacecraft Assemblies Transfer Facility; and the Launch Pad and Service Structure.
On November 5, 1998, the U.S. Air Force launched of the Atmospheric Interceptor Technology (AIT) suborbital rocket, marking the first launch from the complex. In 2004 and 2005, the MDA tested ground-based interceptors against test missiles launched from Kodiak.(1)
Footnotes
- Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation, Kodiak Launch Complex, available at http://www.akaerospace.com/klc.html, accessed on 27 July 2005; GlobalSecurity.org, “Kodiak Island,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/facility/klc.htm, accessed on 27 July 2005.
MDA Launches Target Missile to Test Beale Missile Radar
The Missile Defense Agency today successfully tested an upgraded early warning radar located at Beale Air Force Base, California, which forms a part of the missile defense system being developed. A long-range Strategic Targets System (STARS) rocket was launched from the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska, and was successfully tracked by the Beale AFB radar during the exercise. Other news reports noted that the 35-foot long target missile was indeed launched, and its payload traveled 2,500 miles toward the California-Mexico border, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
An interceptor missile, such as the Ground Based Interceptors some of which are based at Vandenberg AFB, was not launched during the exercise, “but the test did include the launch of a simulated interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. using performance data from previous interceptor launches.”
» Video by Missile Defense Agency of February 23 test
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Kodiak Launch Complex
Upcoming GMD Tests
MDA plans to conduct four tests of the ground-based missile defense system in 2006. The first will involve a target missile launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, which will be tracked by GMD radars. The second will be the first interceptor test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The third will be a “data-collection fly-by,” using a target missile from Kodiak and an interceptor from Vandenberg. The fourth will be a live intercept attempt, again using a target missile from Kodiak and an interceptor from Vandenberg. As of yet, no dates have been set for the four tests.
» More stories on: Policy
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Kodiak Launch Complex
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