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U.S. Plans: Missile Defense Agency Focuses on Boosters The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and lead defense contractor Boeing are reviewing the national missile defense system’s test schedule and hope to improve the program’s boosters — historically plagued by problems — over the next fiscal year, Inside Missile Defense reported today (see GSN, Oct. 15). “At this point the booster program is the least mature of all the elements, so we plan to concentrate on that part of the program over the next year in order to have that booster design ready to begin operationally realistic testing of the system,” a Missile Defense Agency official said. “At this point in time, the integration of a new booster into the system is a priority for the program.” In tests in 2003, the agency plans to power interceptors with a booster rocket developed by defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Orbital Sciences. Surrogate boosters from Minuteman 2 missiles have been powering intercept tests to date, but the last scheduled test with a surrogate booster is scheduled for December or January, an agency official said. The United States wants to conduct four flight tests each year, according to Inside Missile Defense (see GSN, Oct. 15). Meanwhile, the agency plans to house five interceptor missiles in a Ft. Greely, Alaska, test bed to serve as a contingency defense capability (see GSN, Feb. 28). Officials plan to use an April 2004 test to rehearse that capability, which could be in place for emergency deployment by October 2004, missile defense chief Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish told Congress in February (see GSN, July 19; Thomas Duffy, Inside Missile Defense, Oct. 30).
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