Pacific Spaceport Complex (PSCA), Kodiak Island, Alaska, USA
Pacific Spaceport Complex (PSCA), Kodiak Island, Alaska, USA
The Pacific Spaceport Complex (PSCA), Kodiak Island, Alaska, USA, formerly known as the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC), is a dual-use commercial and military spaceport for sub-orbital and orbital launch vehicles. The facility is owned and operated by the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, a corporation owned by the Government of Alaska, and is located on Kodiak Island in Alaska.
The spaceport opened in 1998 and up to January 2023, it supported 31 launches, most of those for the U.S. government. The site was closed for two years following a launch failure that caused significant damage to parts of the spaceport. It reopened in August 2016.
The Kodiak spaceport has two launch pads with a mission control center that includes 64 workstations with high-speed communications and data links. There is a clean room for preparing satellites for launch, a fully enclosed 17-story-tall rocket assembly building and two independent range and telemetry systems. The complex sits on 3,700 acres (15 km2) of state-owned land. Launch pad 1 is designed for orbital launches, while launch pad 2 is intended for sub-orbital launches.
In 2010, Alaska Aerospace Corp. developed a concept plan for a third launch pad, which would allow the facility to support quick launches of satellites: under 24 hours to launch from “go ahead”.