KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Alaska Senator Mark Begich sent a letter to the commander of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Command today (Thursday), urging him to look into utilizing the Kodiak Launch Complex for sending satellites into polar orbits.
Begich said the KLC is the nation’s only high-latitude, full-service spaceport, ideal to support special paths around the earth known as Molniya and Tundra orbits. Last September, the Naval Research Laboratory launched the TacSat-4 communications satellite into a highly elliptical, or oblong, orbit, reaching a maximum distance from earth of 7,500 miles.
In his letter to General William Shelton, Begich urged the Space Commander to examine the benefits of KLC as a supplement to the Air Force’s launch complex at Vandenberg in California.
Alaska’s junior senator asked the general to get back to him after looking into Kodiak’s potential for launching military rockets.
