Omelek Island (; Marshallese: , pronounced ) is part of the

Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ) is part of the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking re ...

in the

Republic of the Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 ...

. It is controlled by the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

under a long-term lease (along with ten other islands in the

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

) and is part of the

Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, commonly referred to as the Reagan Test Site (formerly Kwajalein Missile Range), is a missile test range in Marshall Islands (Pacific Ocean). It covers about and includes rocket launch s ...

Geography

The Island is about in size. Geologically, it is composed of reef-rock, as are the other islands in the atoll, which is created by the accumulation of marine organism remnants (

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

Mollusca Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

, etc.). Sand and weeds comprise the remainder of the terrain, the loose nature of which caused issues for

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

employees transporting material when Omelek was used for

Falcon 1 Falcon 1 was a two-stage small-lift launch vehicle that was operated from 2006 to 2009 by SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer. On September 28, 2008, Falcon 1 became the first privately developed fully liquid-fueled launch vehicle to s ...

launches.

Rocket launches

Omelek has long been used by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for small research rocket launches due to its relative isolation in the South Pacific. The last U.S. government rocket launch from the island occurred in 1996. After 2000, the island's proximity to the equator and nearby radar tracking infrastructure attracted

, an

orbital Orbital may refer to: Sciences Chemistry and physics * Atomic orbital * Molecular orbital * Hybrid orbital Astronomy and space flight * Orbit ** Earth orbit Medicine and physiology * Orbit (anatomy), also known as the ''orbital bone'' * Orbitof ...

launch provider, which updated the facilities on the island and established it as their primary launch location by 2006. SpaceX began launching

launch vehicles from Omelek in 2006. Falcon 1 Flight 4, the first successful privately funded, liquid-propelled orbital

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

, was launched from the island on 28 September 2008 and was followed by another Falcon 1 launch on 13 July 2009, placing

RazakSAT RazakSAT was a Malaysian Earth observation satellite carrying a high-resolution camera. It was launched into low Earth orbit on 14 July 2009. It was placed in a near-equatorial orbit that presents many imaging opportunities for the equatorial reg ...

into orbit. This 2009 flight was the last flight of Falcon 1, and it also marked the last flight by SpaceX from Omelek. In total, SpaceX launched 5 Falcon 1 rockets from Omelek between 2006 and 2009, with two successes (28 September 2008, 14 July 2009) and three (24 March 2006, 21 March 2007, 3 August 2008) failures. Omelek was planned to host launches of the upgraded

Falcon 1e SpaceX manufactures launch vehicles to operate its launch provider services and to execute its various exploration goals. SpaceX manufactures and operates two members of the Falcon 9 family, the Falcon 9 Block 5 medium-lift launch vehicle an ...

rocket, but in 2011-2012, SpaceX stopped development on the Falcon 1e while it focused on its large Falcon 9 launch manifest. SpaceX had tentatively planned to upgrade the launch site for use by their larger

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...

launch vehicle. , the SpaceX launch manifest listed Omelek (Kwajalein) as a potential site for several Falcon 9 launches, the first planned for 2012. and the Falcon 9 Overview document offered Kwajalein as a launch option. In any event, SpaceX did not make the upgrades necessary to support Falcon 9 launches from the atoll and did not launch Falcon 9 from Omelek. The site has since been abandoned by SpaceX. Launches from Omelek were planned to resume in 2022 with space startup

Astra Astra (Latin for "stars") may refer to: People * Astra (name) Places * Astra, Chubut, a village in Argentina * Astra (Isauria), a town of ancient Isauria, now in Turkey * Astra, one suggested name for a hypothetical fifth planet that became t ...

. However, with Astra pausing launch operations and experiencing layoffs, it is unlikely that Omelek will see launches for the foreseeable future. The Reagan Test Site, which includes rocket launch sites on other islands in the Kwajalein Atoll, on

Wake Island Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...

, and at

Aur Atoll Aur Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 42 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area of . It is located ...

, is the only U.S. government equatorial launch facility. During the time of the Falcon 1 launches,

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

visited Omelek frequently enough that he would recall to author Eric Berger that, “I remember that island like the back of my hand,” but he regretted not having “…chilled out just slightly more. You know, it wouldn’t have hurt to have just one cocktail on the damn beach.”

References

External links

Environmental assessment and overview of SpaceX's launch facilities at Omelek
{{Coord, 9, 2, 52.30, N, 167, 44, 34.80, E, display=title Kwajalein Atoll Rocket launch sites SpaceX facilities Islands of the Marshall Islands