KODIAK — A new launch vehicle development company has announced plans to launch from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak as soon as this fall.
Vector Space Systems CEO Jim Cantrell said the company is working on securing waivers and approvals for the test launch, which is part of a larger agreement with Finland-based Iceye to conduct 21 launches.
Iceye is developing a synthetic aperture radar satellite constellation that would provide imaging of Earth’s surface in all weather conditions. A press release says the technology will help to monitor Arctic regions “in support of safety for the environment and maritime operations.”
The Kodiak facility is one of several launch sites Vector will use to complete the contracted micro-satellite launches, The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported.
Craig Campbell, the CEO of Alaska Aerospace Corporation, which operates the complex, has indicated the launch will occur on the other side of the complex from where preparations for upcoming Missile Defense Agency launches are taking place.
Vector’s announcement comes as the Kodiak facility has finished rebuilding after a rocket exploded in August 2014. The rocket was meant to carry a hypersonic glider into the upper atmosphere to test an experimental Army weapons system. Testers destroyed the rocket after they detected an anomaly.
