FAA seeks comment on plan for upgrade of Kodiak rocket launch complex

[unhappycamper]

http://www.adn.com/article/20140923/faa-seeks-comment-plan-upgrade-kodiak-rocket-launch-complex



Damage is visible at the Kodiak Launch Complex after a rocket launch was aborted early Monday morning, Aug. 25, 2014, at the site. The flight was terminated less than four seconds after launch, which was controlled remotely -- no people were in the buildings shown in the photo at the time of the launch.

FAA seeks comment on plan for upgrade of Kodiak rocket launch complex
Dermot Cole
September 23, 2014

As it maps a recovery plan following a failed launch in late August from its rocket range in Kodiak, the Alaska Aerospace Corp.continues to study expansion plans to accommodate rockets capable of carrying payloads nearly three times larger than those in the past.

The Federal Aviation Administration released a draft environmental assessment Sept. 12 on a proposed new launchpad designed for solid- or liquid-fueled rockets with payloads of up to 10,000 pounds. The existing launch complex, which has had 17 launches since 1998, is licensed for solid-fuel rockets with payloads of up to 4,000 pounds.

But the release of the report doesn’t mean the pad will be built or that the state-owned corporation will expand the range to accommodate 12-foot-wide rockets as tall as a 24-story building.

That’s because funding remains uncertain. At the request of Gov. Sean Parnell, the Legislature appropriated $25 million in 2012, about one-fifth of the total cost, to expand the site to handle Athena III rockets from Lockheed Martin. The Athena III had not yet flown at the time of the draft assessment's publication.