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U.S. Plans: Booster Spoils GMD Test The U.S. Missile Defense Agency unsuccessfully tested a missile interceptor last night when the interceptor failed to separate from the rocket used to propel it into space (see GSN, Nov. 22). Officials for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program, which conducted the test, plan to review data from the test to determine what went wrong, the agency said in a press release. They might be able to announce preliminary results in several days or more, according to the release. All other GMD elements that technicians tested — including sensors, radars, and command, control and communication technology — appeared to work properly, the agency said (see GSN, Sept. 10). An infrared laser in a Boeing 747 airplane modified for the Airborne Laser program successfully detected and tracked the boosting target missile as it launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, according to the release (see GSN, Dec. 10). Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie successfully tracked the missile after it launched (see GSN, Sept. 25). The test, the eighth in a series in the program, was the last in which officials had planned to use a surrogate booster that had been designed for other purposes, the agency said (see GSN, Oct. 30). Contractors are designing two alternative boosters that they plan to begin flight-testing in the spring, according to the agency (see GSN, July 22 and Dec. 9). A booster separation problem had spoiled the third GMD test in July 2000 (U.S. Defense Department release, Dec. 11). Additionally, problems with a booster rocket delayed a missile defense test earlier this year, prompting U.S. officials to deny part of a potential bonus to defense contractor Boeing, according to Bloomberg.com (see GSN, Aug. 21). Meanwhile, builders at Ft. Greely in Alaska have made progress on another component of the GMD program (see GSN, Aug. 19). They have finished digging six holes for interceptor missile silos, but the holes have not yet been hardened with concrete, Bloomberg.com reported yesterday (Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg.com, Dec. 10).
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