Taurus XL Failure Investigation Could Delay TacSat-4 Launch at Kodiak Launch Complex

Fri, 18 March, 2011     By Turner Brinton  

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department this month shipped an experimental satellite communications payload and its spacecraft platform to the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska, where they were mated in preparation for launch as early as May 5, a Navy official said March 14.

However, the launch date for the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)-developed TacSat-4 satellite could be affected by an investigation into the March 4 launch failure of a Taurus XL rocket, said Mike Hurley, head of spacecraft development at NRL. The Minotaur 4 vehicle that will carry TacSat-4 to orbit shares some hardware in common with the Taurus XL; both vehicles are built by Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp.

In addition, the military may decide to launch the ORS-1 operational surveillance satellite ahead of TacSat-4 if it is ready in time, the Air Force has said. Although ORS-1 is launching from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, both launch campaigns share some personnel. 

Complete story here

The Little Launch Complex That Couldn't: Kodiak Launch Complex and Alaska Aerospace

 

            Imagine a school district asking the state for money to build a new high school when they cannot prove any students will attend.  “Build it and they will come!” the district claims. The state says no, but a powerful U.S. Senator funnels construction funds to the project through a federal government agency.  The school is built and fully staffed from administrators to teachers to custodians.  Unfortunately, only a few students ever show up and then, only occasionally.

            So, the district, using state and federal handouts, decides to add a gym and a pool and more lockers to attract students. They still show up infrequently; sometimes the school is empty for over a year.  The feds pay the cost for a few years, but finally pull out.  The district appeals to the state for money to keep the school open just in case some students decide to show up.  Who would support funding for such a school?

            The State of Alaska would not loan money to build the Kodiak Launch Complex in the mid-1990s because AAC could not produce confirmed launch business. Senator Ted Stevens, however, directed construction money through the Department of Defense to build it. AAC expanded KLC infrastructure with state and federal handouts based on a business plan of “Build it and they will come”.  The Missile Defense Agency propped it up for a few years while Senator Stevens was in office, then finally abandoned use of the facility.

            Since launch revenues have never covered the cost of keeping the KLC open, Alaska Aerospace has continually asked for state and federal bailouts from its inception in 1998.  Despite no launches in 2009 and only one in 2010, AAC expects Alaska to fork out a ten million dollar handout this year.  Corporate welfare is counter to the fiscal responsibility we, the voters, demand from our elected representatives. 

            The KLC is like an old truck I owned that started falling apart.  With each repair, I figured that now the truck would run fine and I was done.  Yet, it continually broke down and I kept pouring money into it, thinking that each repair would be the last.  I loved that old pickup and didn’t want to let it go.  But I finally realized that I was throwing my money away on a truck that hardly ever ran and got rid of it.

            It is time to stop throwing money away on “Space Pork Kodiak.” It has sat at Narrow Cape for thirteen years, never breaking even, costing the state more and more money while providing minimal returns and economic benefits to our community and our state.  It is time to invest state funds in businesses and ventures that will produce solid returns for the state.

            Let’s return Narrow Cape entirely to the uses for which it is best suited: hunting, hiking, camping, fishing, birding, subsistence activities such as berry picking, and whale-watching.

Kodiak Launch Complex Begs For Bailout:: Ten Million Dollars!!

JUNEAU, Alaska — Executives at the Alaska Aerospace Corporation say the Kodiak Launch Facility requires $10 million in state funding next year for maintenance and operations.
Aerospace Corporation chief executive officer Dale Nash says the $4 million allocated in Gov. Sean Parnell's budget proposal is insufficient and could lead to maintenance on the facility being deferred.
Nash says the additional funding became necessary after the Missile Defense Agency declined to renew a contract with the facility last year and decided against further launches from the island.
Aerospace Corporation President Craig Campbell says his agency is looking to diversify the facility's clientele and collaborate with the private sector.
The Alaska Aerospace Corporation has managed the facility since it opened in 1998.

By CHRIS STEIN
Associated Press

How long will the state and the feds pour money into the "Launch Pad to Nowhere"?  Alaska's infrastructure needs improvement and upgrades and we waste our money on an unprofitable white elephant.  For fifteen years Alaska and the feds have propped the KLC up - it's time for the facility to sink or swim on its own.  Stop the corporate welfare.