[Launch Alert] Saturday Launch

[Brian Webb]

            ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

			           Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		        E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
	      Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp

	  Reaching more than 2,200 e-mail addresses worldwide

				           2003 August 14 (Thursday) 06:02 PDT
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                       SATURDAY MISSILE LAUNCH

A prototype anti-missile interceptor booster is scheduled for launch
this Saturday from Vandenberg AFB. Launch will probably occur at, or
shortly, after 11:00 PDT, the start of a 6-hour launch window.

This launch was originally scheduled for tomorrow, but it appears to
have slipped to Saturday.

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         The following is a news media advisory from the
         Missile Defense Agency. It has been reformatted for
         publication.

            MISSILE DEFENSE ROCKET BOOSTER TEST SCHEDULED
			         August 8, 2003

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced today that one of two
booster rockets now in development for the Ground-based Midcourse
Defense (GMD) missile defense system is scheduled for launch August
15, 2003 [now apparently August 16] from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
contingent on booster readiness, favorable weather and range safety.

The three-stage developmental booster designed by Orbital Sciences
Corp., will fly into the Western Test Range in the central Pacific
Ocean. The launch does not involve an intercept of a ballistic
missile target.

Another booster design now being developed by Lockheed Martin will
participate in a similar test launch from Vandenberg AFB later this
summer. Both booster systems are scheduled to participate in flight
tests this fall from Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall
Islands to evaluate system performance during integrated tests that
will include a simulated intercept of a target.

Both boosters will participate in actual intercept tests beginning in
early 2004, and, depending upon their performance during testing, will
become the booster system for the Ground-based Interceptor (GBI) that
will provide an initial defensive capability to defend against a
limited long-range missile attack beginning later that year.

The objectives for the mission include demonstrating the vehicle�s
silo-launch capabilities, verifying the vehicle design and flight
characteristics, and confirming the planned performance of its
guidance, control and propulsion systems.

Orbital�s GMD boost vehicle is a three-stage system based on hardware
that has flown 45 times on missions carried out by the company�s
Pegasus, Taurus and Minotaur space launch vehicles.

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		                  Glossary

GMD	The Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system designed to
	destroy missiles in space during the middle (midcourse)
	portion of their trajectory.

PDT	Pacific Daylight Time