Astra Space is set for the first flight of its new small-satellite launcher on Thursday from Alaska. The FAA has granted a launch license to the California company for a suborbital flight of Rocket 1 from Launch Pad 2 at the Pacific spaceport Complex — Alaska on Kodiak Island. A notice to airmen (NOTAM) about the launch has been posted for April 5 at 2000 UTC and ending on April […]
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“Alaska Aerospace Corporation”
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
At some point in the next few weeks, the Pacific Spaceport Complex — Alaska will host its first commercial rocket launch. Officials at the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, which runs the spaceport, are hoping the suborbital test flight is the first of many commercial flights from the underused facility.
While officials have not identified the California company conducting the launch, a perusal of the corporation’s board minutes indicate it is almost certainly a small Bay Area startup named Astra Space.
ANCHORAGE, Ala. (AAC PR) — Following participation in the 2017 Japan Space Symposium, Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC) President and Chief Executive Officer Craig E. Campbell traveled to Hokkaido, Japan with a joint Japanese and American delegation to visit a proposed launch site in the coastal town of Taiki.
As part of the itinerary, the delegation toured the headquarters and manufacturing facility of Interstellar Technologies. Interstellar Technologies is a Japanese company developing a launch vehicle to support the nano and micro commercial satellite industry.
Alaska Aerospace Corp. is looking to establish an equatorial launch complex outside of the state to supplement the one it operates in Kodiak, according to CEO Craig Campbell. The state-owned corporation’s board of directors recently authorized spending of up to $250,000 for surveys, property appraisal, site design and other preliminary efforts for the launch site, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Tuesday. Campbell estimated $30,000 to $35,000 of the funds has […]
Craig Campbell, Lindsay Knight, Jenith Flynn, Dr. Robert McCoy, Sen. Gary Stevens and Rep. Louise Stutes re-dedicate the Pacific Spaceport Complex — Alaska. (Credit: AAC)
KODIAK, AK. (AAC PR) — On Saturday, August 13th, Alaska Aerospace Corporation and the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA) commemorating completion of the rebuilding of damaged facilities caused by the launch failure in August 2014.
Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska (Credit: Alaska Aerospace Corp.)
There was some good news last week for the Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC), which has struggled to find users for the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska (PSCA) on Kodiak Island.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced that it would award AAC a contract to support flight tests for the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) at the spaceport. The contract has a five-year base with a single one-year option.
ANCHORAGE, AK (AAC PR) – Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC), recognizing strong demand and aerospace industry growth in northeast Alabama, announces the opening of their new office in Huntsville, Alabama. This is the first permanent presence outside of Alaska for the company.
Craig E. Campbell, AAC President and CEO, states “Alaska Aerospace has supported a number of missions for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) and by opening an office in Huntsville, we will be well positioned to be more responsive to our customers’ future needs.”
LOS ANGELES, November 3, 2015 (Rocket Lab PR) — Rocket Lab announced they have selected Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC) to provide range safety support for their upcoming Electron launches in 2016. AAC’s core business area is space launch. It developed, owns, and operates the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska (PSCA), a state-of-the-industry spaceport that provides access to planetary orbital space for commercial and government customers.
“AAC brings a critical component to our launch program by providing essential range safety capabilities during our initial development phase. This will allow Rocket Lab to control launch costs and for us to invest in development of an Autonomous Flight Termination System designed to provide a lower cost launch alternative for future commercial operations.” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab CEO.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AAC PR) – Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC) has selected Davis Constructors & Engineers, Inc. of Anchorage, Alaska as the General Contractor for reconstruction of the facilities damaged at the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA) from the launch vehicle failure in August 2014.
The damaged facilities requiring reconstruction include the Launch Service Structure, Integration Processing Facility and the Spacecraft Assembly and Transfer Facility. AAC used an innovative selection process developed by Arizona State University to evaluate and rate contractor proposals, resulting in a “Best Value” selection.
P-19 rocket on Kodiak Island (Credit: Garvey Spacecraft Corporation)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AAC PR) – Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC) and Garvey Spacecraft Corporation (GSC) achieved an important milestone in their collaborative venture to path-find operations for a commercial nanosat launch vehicle at AAC’s Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSC-A) on Kodiak Island. Just one month after starting, the team worked through the logistics to enable GSC to ship a prototype first stage and then successfully demonstrate on-site fuel loading into the vehicle.