The US Army is suspending its efforts to secure a small Pacific island because to rapidly distribute cargo anywhere on Earth using rockets as a test landing site for a new program.
The Department of Air Force (DAF) rocket cargo pawn (RCV) program saw Johnson Atol, which was part of a distant series as a location of two rocket landing pads in the west-south-west of the main island of Hawaii, about 900 miles (1,500 km) west-west-west-west-west-west. Now, DAF is suspending those plans because it considers alternative sites, according to a report of stars and stripes.
In March, the Air Force announced the intention of environmental evaluation of Atol, following the American Bird Conservation (ABC) objections. The remote island range is surrounded by 570,000 square miles (1.5 million square kilometers) of the ocean and has become a significant comfort point for dozens of species of sea bird population. In the light of protests, the Air Force initially delayed completing its environmental evaluation, and now it has decided to see the infrastructure of the RCV program at home.
The RCV scheme called for the construction of “two commercial rocket landing pads” to support up to 10 touchdowns per year. Program Identifying and maturing commercial launch vehicles capable of rapidly distributing cargo up to 100 tonnes anywhere on Earth. SpaceX, while not particularly nominated in the plan, is currently the only company that is currently developing such a rocket, and is considered the top candidate of the program.
“The Department of Air Force has selected Johnson Atol environmental assessment for a proposed rocket cargo landing performance on Johnston Atol, while Seva has discovered alternative options for the implementation of the rocket cargo pawn program at a location besides Johnson Atol,” said the Air Force Spokesperson Laurel Falls.
The ABC requested that the Air Force creates a complete environmental impact details “to better assess the potential hazards generated by the project.” According to stars and straps, environmental assessment is not yet officially designed to start or cancel it, but will be announced in the federal register.
An official cause of the decision was not given, nor is this step related to ABC objections or not.
Johnson Atol was used by the US Army as a nuclear weapon testing and chemical weapon settlement until 2004. Also, the island chain was named a refuge for the native bird population in 1926, but faced environmental decline until the departure of the army 20 years ago. Since then, restoration efforts have helped to increase the population of Atol’s bird by about 1.5 million. ABC and other groups have expressed concern that in addition to two giant rocket landing zones, with the infrastructure required to support them, may undo the progress of the last two decades.
DAF considered the RCV program, Kwajalein Atoll, Midway Islady and three other sites as a part of the island, which all support already ongoing American military operations. A DAF notice says the Air Force chose Johnson Atol, “This is the only place that meets all operating requirements during the four -year reventry and landing test program period.”
In particular, Quajeline Atol is the place where SpaceX conducted the first tests of his Falcon rocket. Now, its baby Falcon 1, the latest rocket of SpaceX, stands six times longer than the starship, currently holds the title for the world’s largest, most powerful launch vehicle. However, its development has been in a nap in the last six months.
The three most recent launch of starships, by blowing up an advanced version of the upper stage of the vehicle, all have ended in the destruction of the upper platform.
The high -capacity payloads are expected to be distributed as a part of the RCV program built to carry DAF, the company has a long -term vision for the Starsip SpaceX’s commitments to make a mutual relationship.
