Hurricanes Ravaged KSC, But Caused No Problems For ILS/Lockheed
Martin Vehicle
International Launch Services and Lockheed Martin are preparing
for the final Atlas mission of the year, having come through a
series of hurricanes with launch facilities relatively
unscathed.
The next vehicle, an Atlas V 521 launcher designated AV-005,
arrived at Cape Canaveral last week from the Lockheed Martin
manufacturing center near Denver (CO). AV-005 is scheduled to
launch the Lockheed Martin-built AMC-16 satellite for SES AMERICOM
in December. ILS manages all Atlas missions.
"We want to reassure our customers that our facilities are
intact and we are pressing ahead to meet our Atlas launch
commitments," said ILS President Mark Albrecht.
The booster portion of the rocket was unloaded Friday, shortly
before evacuations were ordered as Hurricane Jeanne approached the
Central Florida coast. The vehicle was secured inside the Atlas
Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC), part of the state-of-the-art
Complex 41 completed in 2002 to support Atlas V launches. Both the
vehicle and the building came through the weekend storm
undamaged.
Lockheed Martin has a detailed hurricane preparedness plan, with
specific procedures to safe and secure all launch facilities. The
company works closely with US Air Force and NASA weather
forecasters to anticipate the impact of tropical systems.
"We are fortunate to have seen only minimal damage. Because we
took precautions in building and securing the facilities, we are
able to resume launch processing in a timely fashion," said Adrian
Laffitte, Lockheed Martin director of Atlas launch operations. A
company Damage and Recovery Team began assessing damages right
after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne moved on. At Air Force
direction, Cape Canaveral facilities began closing for Frances
Sept. 1, and were reopened by Sept. 9. They closed for Jeanne
Friday, and staff began returning today, with a normal workday
expected Wednesday.
Built to meet the latest Florida hurricane safety requirements,
the ASOC and associated structures remained secure throughout the
storms. Damages were slight and mostly external, and repairs
necessitated by Frances' wind and rain were under way or completed
by the time Jeanne passed through.
Lockheed Martin has an emergency management team that convenes
during natural disaster events. This team held daily
teleconferences throughout the storm periods for Hurricanes
Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in August and September, and had
vehicles and supplies ready to assist with recovery, should that
have been necessary.
On Aug. 31, the Atlas team successfully launched an Atlas IIAS
vehicle with a national security payload. This was the last launch
from Pad 36A. Pad 36B will see its final launch in early 2005, with
the final flight of an Atlas III vehicle and another national
security payload. The buildings at Complex 36 withstood the storms
with small rain leakage and minor exterior damage.
ILS has completed five successful launches on Atlas vehicles to
date in 2004, and three on its other vehicle, the Russian Proton
rocket. ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Khrunichev
State Research and Production Space Center of Russia. ILS markets
and manages the missions on the Atlas vehicle in the United States
and on the Proton rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
ILS was formed in 1995, and is based in McLean, (VA).
SpaceX to Launch Inversion RAY Reentry Vehicle in Fall
See All