In January 1998, the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation began building a commercial spaceport at Narrow Cape on Kodiak Island, about 400 km south of Anchorage and 40 km southwest of the City of Kodiak. Kodiak Island was advertised as one of the best locations in the world for polar launch operations, providing a wide launch azimuth and unobstructed downrange flight path.<\/p>\n
The Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) was designed by BRPH Architects - Engineers Inc. of Melbourne, FL. It provided all-weather, in-door processing adaptable to all small rocket launch vehicles. The Kodiak Launch Complex was the only commercial launch range in the United States not co-located with a federal facility. The launch pad could accommodate Castor 120 size vehicles and smaller . The launch pad flame trench was rated up to 500 metric tons thrust. The pad built for all-solid vehicles but plumbed for possible liquid fueled vehicles.<\/p>\n
The active portion of the facility was Kodiak Launch Complex covered 11 hectares, divided among four sites: the Launch Control and Management Center (LCC), the Payload Processing Facility (PPF), the Integration and Processing Facility (IPF)\/Spacecraft Assemblies Transfer Facility (SCAT), and the Launch Pad and Service Structure (LP1).<\/p>\n
KLC's location combined with low-cost operations were promoted for launching telecommunications, remote sensing, and space science payloads of up to 3500 kg into low earth polar and Molniya orbits. Through an agreement with the State Division of Land, AADC was granted a thirty year lease of 1200 hectares at Narrow Cape with an option for a second thirty year term. On November 5, 1998, the USAF conducted the launch of the ait (atmospheric interceptor technology) suborbital rocket, marking the first launch from KLC. The first orbital launch of an Athena-1 came on September 30, 2001.<\/p>\n
In 2005 AADC purchased two Mobile Telemetry Systems to augment the primary range safety system. A second suborbital launch pad, motor storage facility and improved fiber-optic connectivity to the continental US were planned. Paving of improved roads was scheduled for completion in 2007.<\/p>\n
Kodiak Island had approximately 15,000 residents, with roughly half living within the City of Kodiak. A broad range of skilled services was available on the island. Resident companies included a sophisticated local telephone exchange, an island-wide electrical utility, a cable television company, several grocery store chains, a highly skilled construction workforce and other skilled technicians.<\/p>\n
The weather on Kodiak Island was similar to that of the northwest region of the U.S. with an average rainfall comparable to Cape Canaveral in Florida. Because of warm Japanese currents, the climate of Kodiak Island is more moderate than its northern latitude would otherwise dictate. Kodiak had a yearly mean temperature of 4 deg C, and in only three months of the year did the normal temperatures fall below 0 deg C. Visibility and prevailing winds compare favorably with those at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.<\/p>\n
Kodiak was one of the busiest fishing ports in the U.S., and developed a sophisticated infrastructure to support that industry. The island had three commercial dock facilities. In addition to barge service, the dock facilities could safely handle 30 metric ton containers, lift off up to 70 metric tons and process roll-on\/roll-off vehicles. Kodiak had a state-operated regional airport with daily passenger and cargo jet service and had accommodated C-141 and C-5 military transports. Kodiak Island was home to the largest Coast Guard support center in the U.S. and had a full complement of ocean patrol vessels. The Coast Guard Air Station operated several HC-130 aircraft and HH-60 and HH-65 helicopters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In January 1998, the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation began building a commercial spaceport at Narrow Cape on Kodiak Island, about 400 km south of Anchorage and 40 km southwest of the City of Kodiak. Kodiak Island was advertised as one of the best locations in the world for polar launch operations, providing a wide launch azimuth and unobstructed downrange flight path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"bs_cache_bypass_cache":0},"astx_kind":[71],"astx_nation":[5],"astx_family":[121],"class_list":["post-17026","astx_entry","type-astx_entry","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astronautix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/astx_entry\/17026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astronautix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/astx_entry"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astronautix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/astx_entry"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astronautix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"astx_kind","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astronautix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/astx_kind?post=17026"},{"taxonomy":"astx_nation","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astronautix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/astx_nation?post=17026"},{"taxonomy":"astx_family","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astronautix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/astx_family?post=17026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}