On February 6, 2016, a controversial publication was published on "Military Review": "Another successful test of the advanced GBI anti-missile" (more details here: Another successful test of the advanced GBI anti-missile). This article, in addition to interesting technical details, also presents high-quality photographs from American missile ranges: Vandenberg Air Force Base (California) and the Ground Forces Missile Defense Test Complex. Ronald Reagan "(Kwajalein Atoll). In this regard, I would like to talk in more detail about the numerous American rocket ranges and cosmodromes.
Ballistic missile testing in the United States began shortly after acquaintance with captured German missile technology and the emigration from Germany of a number of German specialists who had previously been involved in the creation of German combat ballistic missiles A-4 (V-2 or V-2). Among the Germans who arrived in America was the "father" of the American space program, Wernher von Braun. After the end of the war, about 100 assembled missiles were delivered from Germany. From 1946 to 1952, 63 test launches of German missiles were made in the United States, including one launch from the deck of an American aircraft carrier. In 1946-1953, on the basis of the A-4 within the framework of the Hermes program, several samples of American missiles for various purposes were created, but none of them was brought to mass production.
But this does not mean that before the acquaintance with the German models in the United States, there was no research in the field of rocket technology. The name of one of the pioneers of modern rocketry - Robert Goddard is widely known. This eminent American scientist was the founder of American jet propulsion research. On March 16, 1926, he successfully launched a liquid-propellant rocket for the first time in the United States. Robert Goddard received patents for a gyroscope-assisted rocket control system and for the use of multistage rockets to achieve high altitudes. He developed a number of key rocket engine components such as fuel pumps. In 1935, Robert Goddard launched a liquid-propellant rocket that reached supersonic speed.
So the United States had its own developments in rocketry, and in addition to testing captured German missiles, the Americans were conducting several of their own projects, technologically more advanced than the German models. One of the developments, WAC Corporal, has reached the stage of practical implementation. Launched in September 1945, a research prototype of a liquid-propellant rocket, the engine of which was fueled by fuming red nitric acid and hydrazine, reached its climax of 80 kilometers. This prototype missile eventually served as the basis for the MGM-5 "Corporal" tactical missile, which became the first guided nuclear ballistic missile adopted by the US Army.
For testing American ballistic missiles on July 9, 1945 in the desert in the state of New Mexico, the White Sands missile test site was created with an area of about 2.400 km². Simultaneously with the construction of a missile range in this area, preparations were underway for testing the first American nuclear explosive device. Since 1941, the military has used the area to conduct control and training artillery fire and test new explosives and high-yield ammunition.
In July 1945, White Sands completed the construction of a test bench, which was a concrete well with a channel at the bottom for the release of a gas jet in a horizontal direction. During engine tests, the rocket was placed on top of the well and fixed with a strong steel structure equipped with a device for measuring the thrust force of the rocket engine. In parallel with the stand, the construction of launch sites, hangars for the assembly of missiles, control and measuring points and radars for trajectory measurements of missile flight was carried out. By the time the tests began, most of the German specialists, led by Werner von Braun, had moved to a residential town built nearby.
Preparing to launch V-2 at White Sands Rocket Range
On May 10, 1946, the V-2 was successfully launched from the White Sands test site for the first time. Despite the fact that the American analogue of the V-2 was never accepted into service, test launches at White Sands allowed American designers and ground crews to accumulate invaluable practical experience and determine further ways to improve and use rocket technology. In addition to practicing the combat use of captured missiles, launches were carried out for research purposes of studying the upper layers of the atmosphere. In October 1946, a V-2 rocket launched from the White Sands launch pad reached an altitude of 104 km. A camera installed on board the rocket automatically took pictures every one and a half seconds of flight. The photographic film, placed in a special high-strength steel cassette, remained intact after the rocket fell and the scientists got at the disposal of the scientists high-quality photographs of the test area, unique at that time. This demonstrated the fundamental possibility of using missiles for reconnaissance purposes. In December 1946, another rocket reached an altitude of 187 km, this record lasted until 1951.
In 1948, Convair RTV-A-2 Hiroc missiles were launched here - this was already a purely American development. Ballistic missile tests continued until the early 50s, later on this test site mainly tested the MIM-3 Nike Ajax and MIM-14 Nike-Hercules anti-aircraft missiles, the LIM-49 Nike Zeus and Sprint anti-missile systems, as well as military operational-tactical complexes. Due to the peculiarities of the geographical location of the White Sands test site, it was impossible to accurately simulate the trajectory of a ballistic missile entering the atmosphere, launched from the mainland of the United States when it was intercepted by an interceptor missile. In addition, the debris of missiles falling from a great height along an unpredictable trajectory could pose a threat to the population living in the area. At the moment, most of the research carried out here in the field of air defense and missile defense has been transferred to other test sites for security reasons, but tests of MLRS, artillery, aviation and anti-aircraft weapons systems are still ongoing.
Tests of the MEADS air defense system at the White Sands test site
Large exercises of the army, air force and naval aviation were regularly held in this area. It tests propellant components and jet engines for spacecraft. There is also a satellite communication system control point at the test site.
Google earth snapshot: spacecraft control center antenna field
Part of the landfill is open for visits by excursion groups. The exposition of the White Sands Rocket Range Museum has more than 60 missile samples. Here you can familiarize yourself with the US nuclear program, get information about the first flights into space and the development of various types of missiles.
Exposition of the Rocket Park Museum in White Sands
In addition to visiting the museum, tours are organized to the site of the first American nuclear test explosion, known as Trinity. At present, the level of radiation in this place no longer poses a threat to health. In the area of the explosion in a radius of several hundred meters, feldspar and quartz under the influence of high temperature melted into a mineral of light green color, called trinitite. For a fee, you can get a small amount of Trinitite as a souvenir.
In 1950, a group of German specialists led by Werner von Braun moved to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, where the Headquarters of the Air Missile Command is now located. Until the end of the 40s, the development and production of incendiary and chemical ammunition was carried out in the Redstone Arsenal. Compared to the White Sands' desert, the conditions for permanent residence and work in Huntsville were much better. The first American short-range ballistic missile, developed by V. von Braun's team, was called PGM-11 Redstone. The technical solutions incorporated in this rocket were later used in the creation of the Jupiter MRBM, the Juno-1 and Saturn launch vehicles. In 1959, part of the Redstone Arsenal was transferred to NASA. The George Marshall Space Flight Center was established on this territory.
Testbed for Saturn 5 rockets and comic shuttles at Marshall Space Center
In addition to the creation and testing of the Redstone, Atlas, Titan, Saturn rockets, the center's specialists participated in the development of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo spacecraft, Shuttle engines and the American ISS module. A special pride of the center is the lunar rover created here, on which astronauts moved along the surface of the moon. In recent years, the main efforts of the center's employees have been focused on the development of new launch vehicles of the "Ares" family and the super-heavy launch vehicle SLS.
First test bed for rocket engines at Redstone Arsenal
Work on the creation of rocketry in Huntsville required the creation of a laboratory and test facility. In the southeastern part of the arsenal, a test complex with several stands for firing tests of rocket engines was erected.
Google earth snapshot: test bed at the Redstone Arsenal proving ground
Jet engine firing tests
But due to security concerns, test launches of missiles from the territory of the Redstone arsenal were not possible. In this case, the missiles would have to fly over densely populated areas of the United States and the inevitable failures in the process of testing new missile technology could lead to the death of people in the event of a fall of missiles or their stages.
For this reason, the Eastern Missile Range was deployed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base. It was founded in 1949 by President Harry Truman as a Long Range Joint Proving Ground, and in 1951, the US Air Force's Missile Test Center was established here. About 30 km of the coastline were allocated for the construction of the launch sites. The location for the test site turned out to be very well chosen, its geographical position made it possible to carry out safe launches of heavy missiles across the Atlantic Ocean, moreover, the test site was closer to the equator than a significant part of the US territory. This made it possible to increase the weight of the payload and save fuel when placing cargo into orbit.
The first rocket launched at Cape Canaveral on July 24, 1950 was the two-stage Bumper V-2, which was a conglomerate of the German V-2 and the American research WAC Corporal.
First launch of a Bumper V-2 rocket from Cape Canaveral
Since 1956, American suborbital missiles of the Viking series have been launched from the launch pad of the Eastern Range. On December 6, 1957, an unsuccessful attempt was made to launch the first American artificial satellite. The Vanguard TV3 three-stage launch vehicle exploded at the launch site in front of a large crowd of reporters. At the same time, the satellite survived and was thrown away by the explosion, falling to the ground at a short distance with the radio transmitter still working.
Vanguard TV3 booster explosion
Since the founding of NASA in 1958, launch vehicles have been launched from the Air Force's Cape Canaveral launch sites for space exploration, including the early manned missions Mercury and Gemini.
Friendship 7 launch with astronaut John Glenn under the Mercury program
The following combat missiles were tested here: PGM-11 Redstone, PGM-19 Jupiter, MGM-31 Pershing, UGM-27 Polaris, PGM-17 Thor, Atlas, Titan and LGM-30 Minuteman. On the basis of the Tor rocket, the Delta carrier rocket was created, with the help of which the Telstar-1 satellite was launched in July 1962. In order to expand the capabilities of the Titan-3 and Titan-4 rockets for the delivery of heavy loads into orbit, additional launch complexes were built in the 1960s. They were used to launch communications, military reconnaissance and meteorological satellites, as well as NASA planetary missions.
Google Earth snapshot of Cape Canaveral Air Force Base and Kennedy Space Center launch sites
In total, 38 launch sites were built on the territory of the Eastern Missile Range, of which only 4 are operational today. Until recently, Delta II and IV, Falcon 9 and Atlas V rockets were launched from them. On April 22, 2010, the Atlas V launch vehicle was successfully launched. An unmanned reusable spacecraft Boeing X-37 was launched into near-earth orbit. It is noteworthy that Russian engines RD-180 were used on the American Atlas V launch vehicle.
Google Earth snapshot: launch pad at the Eastern Rocket Range
North of the US Air Force Eastern Rocket Range, on Merritt Island, is NASA's John Fitzgerald Kennedy Space Center, with an area of approximately 567 km². Construction of the space center began in 1962, during the implementation of the "Lunar Program", as the rocket range located nearby became too crowded. In addition, for conducting research space programs, special equipment and structures were required, in the construction of which the military was not interested. Initially, by 1966, the following were built: a control center, a launch complex for Saturn V missiles, a rocket hangar and a vertical building for assembling and testing missiles with their subsequent transportation to the launch pad. To test the readiness of personnel and equipment before the Saturn V launches, launches of the lighter Saturn I launch vehicles and ICBMs.
After the Air Force chose the Titan III and Titan IV rockets as heavy carriers, NASA also built two launch sites for them at its launch site. The Titan III launch vehicle could launch into space the same load as the Saturn launch vehicle, but were significantly cheaper. In the mid-70s, the Titan-Centaurus launch vehicle became the main launch vehicles for NASA; they were used to launch the Viking and Voyager series vehicles. Until July 2011, the Kennedy Space Center was the launch site for the Space Shuttle, using the launch complex with the Apollo infrastructure. The Columbia spacecraft was launched first on April 12, 1981. On the territory of the center there is a landing strip with a length of 4, 6 km for landing "shuttles".
Parts of the Kennedy Space Center and the Eastern Rocket Range are open to the public, with several museums, cinemas and exhibition venues. Excursion bus routes are organized on the territory closed for free access. The $ 38 bus tour includes: a visit to the launch sites and the Apollo-Saturn V center, an overview of the tracking stations.
Of greatest interest to visitors is the Apollo-Saturn V museum complex. It is built around the exhibit's most prized possession, the Saturn V launch vehicle and other space-related artifacts such as the Apollo reentry capsule.
For all their merits, the Kennedy Space Center and the Eastern Rocket Range have a slight drawback, due to the presence of settlements under the trajectories, Cape Canaveral is not suitable for launching in a westerly direction. For this reason, such launches are used on the launch pads of the "Western Missile Range" at Vandenberg AFB (California) on the western Pacific coast of the United States. The Vandenberg Air Base covers an area of approximately 462 km².
The base was founded in 1941 as a training ground for the US Army. In 1957, after the transfer to the Air Force, it was transformed into a ballistic missile testing center. The location of the Western Rocket Range launch sites on the Pacific coast - unlike the launch sites at Cape Canaveral, facilitates the launch of satellites into polar orbit. The launch occurs in the direction of the Earth's rotation, which is well suited for launching reconnaissance satellites. The proximity of the launchers to the coast and the remoteness from populated areas make the "Western Test Site" a very good place for testing intercontinental ballistic missiles and launching spacecraft. The first Thor ballistic missile was launched on December 16, 1958. Subsequently, ballistic missiles were tested here: Atlas, Titan-1/2, Minuteman-1/2/3 and MX. In the area of the base, the American combat railroad missile systems "Midgetman" were also tested. Test launches of Minuteman and MX ICBMs accounted for almost half of all missile launches of all types. In addition to testing, the silo launchers available at the base were used to carry ICBMs on alert. An airborne laser anti-missile weapon system mounted on a Boeing 747-400 aircraft was tested at the test site. Six radar and optical tracking stations were built at the dominant heights around the test site. Trajectory measurements and reception of telemetric information from test launches from the Vandenberg base are also carried out by the technical means of the Point-Mugu measuring point, located 150 km to the south.
Launch vehicle "Tor-Arena" with satellite SERT-2 at the launch complex of the base "Vandenberg"
On February 28, 1959, the world's first polar-orbiting research satellite, Discoverer-1, was launched from the Western Test Site on the Tor-Agena carrier rocket. As it became known later, "Discoverer" was a cover for the secret intelligence program "Crown", which started after a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft U-2 was shot down over the territory of the USSR. Within the framework of this program, reconnaissance satellites of the following series were launched: KH-1, KH-2, KH-3, KH-4, KH-4A and KH-4B (144 satellites). On board the satellites were long-focus wide-format cameras, with their help it was possible to obtain high-quality images of Soviet nuclear and missile ranges, strategic aviation airfields, positions of ICBMs and defense enterprises. However, in addition to purely military programs, the launching positions of the Western Rocket Range, although on a smaller scale than the Eastern Rocket Range, were also used to launch research spacecraft. For example, the Titan-2 launch vehicle launched the Clementine space probe from here to study the Moon and deep space.
In the early 70s, "Vandenberg" was chosen as the launch and landing site for manned reusable space shuttle vehicles. For this, the launch complex, previously intended for launching the Titan-3 missiles, has undergone a re-equipment. The existing runway at the base was extended to 4580 m.
The shuttle "Enterprise" at the launch complex of the base "Vandenberg"
In 1985, the launch pad was tested using the Enterprise shuttle prototype. This device was not intended for space flights, it served for all sorts of tests and testing of landing in manual control mode. However, after the destruction of the Challenger shuttle on October 15, 1986, the program for launching reusable spacecraft from the launching positions of the Western Range was curtailed. After that, the launch complex was once again rebuilt and used to launch polar-orbiting satellites by the new Delta-4 family of launch vehicles.
Google Earth snapshot: Launch Complex 6 used to launch Delta-4 missiles
At the moment, there are eleven launch complexes at the base, of which six are operational. Launch facilities of the Vandenberg airbase are designed to launch carrier rockets: Delta-2, Atlas-5, Falcon Heavy, Delta-4, and Minotaur. On June 16, 2012, an unmanned reusable spacecraft Boeing X-37 landed at the base's GDP in an automatic mode. Prior to that, he spent 468 days in orbit, having flown around the Earth more than seven thousand times. The reusable shuttle X-37 is designed to operate at altitudes of 200-750 km, can quickly change orbits, and is capable of performing reconnaissance missions and delivering small loads to outer space and back.
In addition to launching spacecraft from silos located in the vicinity of the test site, control and test firing of Minuteman-3 ICBMs is regularly conducted. The last two missile launches were made in March 2015. Along the coast, to the north, at a distance of 10-15 km from the base runway, there are 10 well-maintained silo launchers of ICBMs.
Vandenberg Air Force Base plays a key role in the US missile defense program. The launcher, known as the 576-E, is used to test GBI interceptor missiles. On January 28, 2016, the US Missile Defense Agency conducted a successful flight test of an advanced ground-based anti-missile missile. Reportedly, the purpose of this test was to verify the operation of the upgraded steering engines of the interceptor missile, as well as to eliminate malfunctions identified during the test launch in June 2014. According to information published in open sources, as of 2013, four GBI anti-missiles were deployed in silos left over from the Minuteman-3 ICBM. The total number of interceptor missiles deployed at the Vandenberg base is planned to be increased to 14 units.
Anti-missile launcher GBI based on "Vandenberg"
On the territory of the base there is a museum complex known as the "Center for Rocket and Space Heritage". It is located in Launch Complex No. 10 - the place where the test launches of the Tor ballistic missile and the Discovery AES took place. The exposition of the museum tells about the stages of development of the base from the very moment of its creation. It affects the military, commercial and scientific spheres of activity in space exploration and is divided into two parts: "Development of technology" and "Chronology of the Cold War." The museum has a collection of all models of launch complexes used at the base, rocket engines, models of reusable spacecraft. In specially equipped cinema halls, using special audio and video effects, videos are shown telling about the tests of rocket technology and the stages of space exploration.
Sparring is a partner of the Western Missile Range in testing anti-missile systems. Ronald Reagan at Kwajalein Atoll. As a rule, it is from here that target missiles are launched for testing GBI interceptor missiles. The eleven islands of the atoll are operated by the US military under a long-term lease with the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The lease expires in 2066 with the option to automatically renew the lease until 2089. The total area of the leased territory is 14.3 km² or 8% of the total area of the Marshall Islands. The construction of the missile range began in 1959, and in 1999 it was named after Ronald Reagan.
The Americans have invested very serious money in the technical equipment of the landfill. In 2015 alone, USD 182 million was allocated for the development and maintenance of infrastructure. On the eight islands of the atoll, in addition to launch complexes for launching missiles, a network of radar, optoelectronic and telemetric stations was built, designed to detect, track and recognize missiles and warheads and remove telemetric information about flight parameters from them. Automatic digital cinema theodolites are installed on six islands of the atoll. All monitoring and tracking devices are interconnected with eavesdropping-proof fiber-optic cables. The data received from the tracking and telemetry stations are transmitted via the HANTRU-1 submarine cable to the island of Guam. The area is also home to a ballistic missile target field. The coordinates of the points of fall of warheads are recorded by a special radar station of the SDR type. To record the time of splashdown of the tested warheads in the lagoon of Kwajalein Atoll, a HITS system with a network of hydroacoustic sensors was installed.
In the 60s and 70s, tests of the Sprint and Spartan antimissiles were carried out on Kwajalein. Silo launchers for "Spartan" interceptor missiles, as well as sites for the deployment of launch equipment for "Sprint" interceptor missiles, have been built on the islands of Mek and Illeginni. After the closure of these programs, ballistic and meteorological missiles were launched from the test site. The test site is serviced by ground forces, but its activities are carried out in conjunction with the relevant services of the Air Force and Navy. The technical services of the test site also interact with NASA, providing support and exchange of information with the orbiters of the American space agency.
Google Earth Snapshot: Space Objects Tracking Complex in Kwajalein Atoll
In addition to the Kwajalein Atoll, there are launch complexes on the Omelek, Wake Islands and Aur Atoll. On the island of Omelek, which is part of the test site, a launch pad was built in 2004 to launch the Falcon-1 carrier rocket, created by the private company SpaceX. When Falcon-1 starts up, a reusable, reversible first stage is used. In total, four attempts were made from Omelek Island to launch a payload into orbit. The first two launches ended unsuccessfully, the third rocket put into orbit a mass and size mock-up of the satellite. On July 13, 2009, the first successful commercial launch of the Malaysian RazakSat satellite was carried out.
