The Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA), formerly known as the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC), is a dual-use commercial and military

spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport''—and even more so ''cosmodrome''—has traditionally referred to sites capable of ...

for

sub-orbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will no ...

and 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 ...

s. The facility is owned and operated by the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, a corporation owned by the

government of Alaska The government of Alaska in common with state and federal governments of the United States, has three separation of powers, branches of government: the executive branch, executive, consisting of the Governor of Alaska and the state agencies; the ...

, and is located on

Kodiak Island Kodiak Island (, ) is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the Un ...

in Alaska. The spaceport opened in 1998 and has supported 31 (up to January 2023) launches, most of those for the

U.S. government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executi ...

. 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 Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Walke ...

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 The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is a component of the Federal government of the United States, United States government's United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense responsible for developing a comprehensive Missile defense, defe ...

(MDA) 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 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense, is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in th ...

(THAAD) system. Two

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companies,

Rocket Lab Rocket Lab Corporation is a Public company, publicly traded aerospace manufacturer and List of launch service providers, launch service provider. Its Rocket Lab Electron, Electron orbital rocket launches Small satellite, small satellites, and ha ...

and Vector Space Systems, were considering using the spaceport for commercial launches as early as 2019. Another private company, Eclipse Orbital, was working with the Alaska Aerospace Corporation to prepare for flight operations of their "Corona" launch vehicle in 2020. As of 2022, however, none of these companies have launched anything from Alaska.

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n private space company Agnikul Cosmos signed a memorandum of agreement with Alaska Aerospace Corporation to test launch their

Agnibaan Agnibaan (Sanskrit, ISO: 'Fire', 'Arrow', ) is a three-stage small-lift launch system currently under development, produced by AgniKul Cosmos in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is capable of placing a 100 kg (220 lb) satellite into a ...

rocket from the Pacific Spaceport Complex. The launch from Alaska was expected to take place from 2022 onwards. Under the agreement, Alaska Aerospace and AgniKul will work together to secure several regulatory approvals including US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launch licensing, US export control, and will comply with export laws & regulations in

to receive necessary clearances from the Indian authorities as well. The aim is to define launch vehicle-spaceport interfaces, related procedures and conduct at least one test launch from PSCA. On 19 November 2021, Astra's LV0007 rocket achieved orbit from the Pacific Spaceport Complex.

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

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

s 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 launches. In 2010, Alaska Aerospace Corp. developed a concept plan for a third launch pad, which would 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 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and the

Space Test Program The Space Test Program (STP) is the primary provider of spaceflight for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Outline of space science, space science and technology community. STP is managed by a group within the Advanced Systems and De ...

, launching Starshine 3, Sapphire, PCSat, and PICOSatS on 30 September 2001. *Additional sources: Center for Defense Information, Missile Defense Agency The list above contains all launches, orbital and suborbital, up to January 2023.

References

External links

Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska website
by the Alaska Aerospace Corporation

from 2002 to present hosted by th
Alaska State Publications Program

Economic impact of the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation on the Kodiak Island Borough and the State of Alaska 2006
hosted by th
Alaska State Publications Program

Environmental monitoring report, FTG-02 launch : Kodiak Launch Complex, Kodiak, Alaska / prepared for Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation (2007)
hosted by th
Alaska State Publications Program

Environmental monitoring report, FT-04-1 launch : Kodiak Launch Complex, Kodiak, Alaska (2006)
hosted by th
Alaska State Publications Program
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska 1998 establishments in Alaska Buildings and structures in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Rocket launch sites in the United States Science and technology in Alaska Spaceports in the United States