INDIAN ISLAND — Naval Magazine Indian Island loaded and barge-shipped the first of three satellite rocket boosters last week, assisting the U.S. Air Force in transporting the boosters to Alaska.
Personnel from the Naval Magazine assisted Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center’s Space Development and Test Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base in moving the three SR118, SR119, and SR120 rocket boosters to support an upcoming rocket launch from the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island.
The three motors will be moved in two shipments, the first of which came after the first booster arrived by truck shipment Thursday night, said Joe Davidson, a public affairs spokesman for Space and Missile Systems Center, Space Development and Test Wing.
About 10 personnel from Indian Island provided safety and loading support at the Naval Magazine on Thursday and Friday.
Two other larger boosters will arrive at Naval Magazine Indian Island some time in August, he said.
“The integrated team takes great care in transport of these stages to ensure public and personnel safety as well as the reliability of the rocket stages,” Davidson said.
“Mission success and public safety are our top priorities.”
The operation out of Air Force base in New Mexico supports the launch of Tactical Satellite 4 aboard a Minotaur IV rocket from Kodiak Launch Complex in the late fall of 2010.
The shipment involves moving solid rocket motors from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, to the Naval Magazine on land and for transfer to a shipping barge to Alaska.
The solid rocket motors are to be stored and transported in containers specifically designed for shipping by land, satisfying Department of Transportation and Defense Transportation regulations, and will be under the Air Force and the Army’s Surface Deployment and Distribution Command supervision.
The Stage III booster now being shipped by sea weighs 18,000 pounds.
Stage II weighs 60,000 pounds and Stage I is more than 100,000 pounds.
All boosters are about 7 feet in diameter.
Davidson said the barge holding the first booster shipped should arrive in Kodiak in about a week.
The satellite will be launched into space either during the last quarter of 2010 or the first quarter of 2011, he said.
The mission is similar to a shipment last year involving Naval Magazine personnel.
The previous satellite was STP S-26, scientific mission with multiple payloads, and the satellite to launch next is the TACSAT-4, a demonstration satellite for the Operationally Responsive Space Office.
Navy cranes were used to load the stages.
The crane visible across Port Townsend Bay from Port Townsend and Port Hadlock, which is called “Big Blue,” was used for Stage III, and a large floating crane will be used for loading stages I and II, Davidson said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
