United States Department of Transportation
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U.S. Launch Range Modernization Programs-Quarterly Launch Report-Special Report
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1999-01-01
[PDF-233.31 KB]
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Abstract:The United States? launch ranges are experiencing considerable growth in commercial and government launch activities. The years 1997 and 1998 witnessed the greatest number of launches from the federal launch ranges yet. In 1998, the total number of commercial and FAA-licensed launches from U.S. launch sites surpassed launches for government purposes for the first time in U.S. space history. Commercial satellite services are now driving demand for launch services worldwide. Such demands have resulted in the U.S. launch industry facing greater challenges from its foreign competitors. As a result, the national security, civil, and commercial sectors have reached consensus that the United States launch infrastructure and technologies have not kept pace with the changing launch business. Much of the equipment and systems at the ranges (such as tracking radars, telemetry systems, and fixed optical systems) were installed in the 1950s and 1960s and are still used today. It is widely acknowledged that the rapid reconfiguration of the launch ranges from one launch to the next is a much needed capability. Realizing this capability is frustrated by out-of-date technologies and an architecture not equipped to handle the continuing changes in space transportation. This capability is an important element to accommodating future commercial launch demands.
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