Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska


The Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska, formerly known as the Kodiak Launch Complex, is a dual-use commercial and military spaceport for sub-orbital and orbital launch vehicles. The facility is owned and operated by the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, a public corporation of the State of Alaska, and is located on Kodiak Island in Alaska.
The spaceport opened in 1998 and has supported 24 launches, most of those for the U.S. government. The site was closed for two years following a launch failure that caused significant damage to parts of the spaceport. It reopened in August 2016.

History

Following the incorporation of the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation in 1991 by the Alaska state legislature, plans were begun for the spaceport, known during development as the Alaska Orbital Launch Complex. Construction on the site began in January 1998, and the first launch took place in August 1998 from temporary accommodations at the site.
After a launch failure in August 2014 damaged the launch tower, payload processing facility and integrated processing facility, Alaska Aerospace made plans to repair and upgrade the facilities to support larger rockets, but Governor Bill Walker stopped work in December 2014 as part of an order to address a state budget shortfall. Repairs to the facility were funded by state insurance at a cost of US$26–29 million. During efforts to repair the facilities, the spaceport was formally renamed to "Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska" in an announcement made on 14 April 2015. The facility was formally re-dedicated on 13 August 2016, to celebrate the completion of repairs.
In mid-2016, the Alaska Aerospace Corporation "signed a multi-year contract with the Missile Defense Agency for multiple launches from the PSCA through 2021". The arrangement includes a sole-source contract for two flight tests of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. Two private companies, Rocket Lab USA and Vector Space Systems, are considering using the spaceport for commercial launches as early as 2019. Another private company, Eclipse Orbital, is working with the Alaska Aerospace Corporation to prepare for flight operations of their "Corona" launch vehicle in 2020.

Launch facilities

The Kodiak spaceport has two launch pads with a mission control center that includes 64 workstations with high-speed communications and data links. There is a clean room for preparing satellites for launch, a fully enclosed 17-story-tall rocket assembly building and two independent range and telemetry systems. The complex sits on of state-owned land. Launch pad 1 is designed for orbital launches, while launch pad 2 is intended for sub-orbital flights.
In 2010, Alaska Aerospace Corp. had a concept plan for a third launch pad to be built, which could allow the facility to support quick launches of satellites: under 24 hours to launch from "go ahead".

Launch history

The first orbital launch from the PSCA was an Athena I rocket which carried out the Kodiak Star mission for NASA and the Space Test Program, launching Starshine 3, Sapphire, PCSat, and PICOSatS on 30 September 2001.
No.Date VehiclePayloadPadOrbital/SuborbitalResultRemarks
1
01:32		First stage: Aerojet SR-19-AJ-1
Second stage: Hercules M57A1		LP-2SuborbitalMission for the U.S. Air Force. Carried various experiments and instruments, including a "Global Positioning System antenna, Honeywell GPS Measure Unit, Electromagnetic Radio Tornography experiment, Langmuir probe and an Air Force nosetip".
2
21:00		First stage: Castor 4B
Second stage: Hercules M57A1		LP-2SuborbitalMission for the U.S. Air Force. Carried various experiments and instruments, including a Langmuir probe, the Boston Rocket Ionospheric Tomography Experiment, an interceptor seeker, and calibration equipment.
3Aries 47-1LP-2SuborbitalMission for the U.S. Air Force.
4
02:40		Athena I LP-1OrbitalKodiak Star mission for Lockheed/NASA; first orbital launch from Kodiak.
5
18:12		Polaris A-3 -1LP-2SuborbitalWest Coast Risk-Reduction Flight for the U.S. Army. Rocket exploded 56 seconds after launch.
6Aries 49QRLV-2LP-2SuborbitalMission for the U.S. Air Force.
7
04:45		Polaris A-3 STARS-1LP-2Suborbital-13c mission for Missile Defense Agency. Target successfully launched from Kodiak, but interceptor failed to launch from Kwajalein.
8
06:22		Polaris A-3 STARS-1LP-2SuborbitalIFT-14 mission for MDA. Target successfully launched from Kodiak, but interceptor failed to launch from Kwajalein.
9
16:09		Polaris A-3 STARS-1LP-2Suborbital-01 mission for MDA.
10
17:22		Polaris A-3 STARS-1LP-2Suborbital l-02 mission for MDA. Both the target at Kodiak and interceptor at Kwajalein successfully launched.
11
14:15		Polaris A-3 STARS-1LP-2SuborbitalFTG-03 mission for MDA. Target missile from Kodiak flew off course and interceptor was not launched.
12
20:01		Polaris A-3 STARS-1LP-2SuborbitalFTG-03a mission for MDA. Successful intercept.
13
22:47		Polaris A-3 STARS-1LP-2SuborbitalFTX-03 mission for MDA. Target launched from Kodiak was tracked by land-based, sea-based and space-based tracking systems. Navy and Air Force units simulated interceptor shootdowns.
14
20:04		Polaris A-3 STARS-1LP-2SuborbitalFTG-05 mission for MDA. Successful intercept of a target launched from Kodiak by an interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
15
01:25		Minotaur IVLP-1OrbitalSTP-S26 mission for the U.S. Air Force. Included a Hydrazine Auxiliary Propulsion System to move vehicle to a secondary orbit after ejecting payloads.
16
15:49		Minotaur IV+TacSat-4LP-1OrbitalMission for the U.S. Air Force.
17
~08:00		Polaris STARS IVAdvanced Hypersonic WeaponLP-2SuborbitalFlight Test 2 for the U.S. Army's AHW program. Flight terminated by range safety four seconds after launch due to rocket anomaly. Kodiak's LP-1 launch tower, payload processing facility, and integrated processing facility suffered damage due to the termination.
18June 2017UnknownUnknownUnknownSuborbitalUnknownFTT-18 mission for the MDA
19July 2017UnknownUnknownUnknownSuborbitalUnknownFET-01 mission for the MDA
20July 20, 2018Astra Rocket 1.0UnknownUnknownSuborbitalP120 mission for a commercial sponsor Astra
21November 29, 2018Astra Rocket 2.0UnknownUnknownSuborbitalPrivate commercial mission for Astra
22July 26, 2019Arrow IIIUnknownSuborbitalIn a joint Israeli-American test conducted by the Israeli Air Force and Missile Defense Agency, the Arrow 3 system successfully intercepted 3 "enemy" rockets, one of them outside the atmosphere. The tests demonstrated Arrow 3's ability to intercept exo-atmospheric targets.
23July 26, 2019Arrow IIIUnknownSuborbitalIn a joint Israeli-American test conducted by the Israeli Air Force and Missile Defense Agency, the Arrow 3 system successfully intercepted 3 "enemy" rockets, one of them outside the atmosphere. The tests demonstrated Arrow 3's ability to intercept exo-atmospheric targets.
24July 26, 2019Arrow IIIUnknownSuborbitalIn a joint Israeli-American test conducted by the Israeli Air Force and Missile Defense Agency, the Arrow 3 system successfully intercepted 3 "enemy" rockets, one of them outside the atmosphere. The tests demonstrated Arrow 3's ability to intercept exo-atmospheric targets.

The list above contains all launches, orbital and suborbital, up to end of 2019.