Draft:Strategic Target System
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STARS (Strategic Target System) is a modified UGM-27C Polaris A3 ballistic missile used as a target in tests of the US missile defense program.
Development
[edit]In 1985, Sandia National Laboratories was tasked with developing a target missile from former submarine-launched ballistic missiles that could serve as an alternative to Minuteman-based target missiles.[1]
Following its disarmament, the Polaris-A3 was refurbished and fitted with an additional Orbus-1 upper stage. This three-stage variant is known as STARS-I. A variant that uses an additional small liquid-fuel upper stage called ODES (Operations and Deployment Experiments Simulator) is known as STARS-II. STARS-IV is the STARS-I with longer payload fairing and modified first stage, fitted with grid fins.[2]
In general, the payload consists of one or two reentry vehicles and numerous simulation objects (decoys). With an additional upper stage of the Star-26 type, orbital missions with small satellites would also be possible.[2]
Launches
[edit]Launches were carried out from the Kauai Test Facility at the beginning of the program, but launches for operational missile defence tests are carried out from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska. From 1993 to 1996, two flights each of STARS-I and STARS-II rockets were launched from Kauai. From 2001 to 2008, the STARS-I was launched nine times from Kodiak, including two failed launches. One more flight from Kauai took place in 2011, during which a hypersonic maneuverable reentry vehicle was tested on STARS-IV rocket. The launch of STARS-IV with the same payload from Kodiak in 2014 failed. Following two launches from Kauai and one from Kodiak used unknown variant, supposedly STARS-IV.[2]
Due to the age of the Polaris rocket components, the STARS rocket is being replaced by the LV-2 target missile, which is based on refurbished UGM-93A Trident C4 missiles.
Launch history
[edit]| Date | Variant | Payload | Launch site | Outcome | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 26, 1993 | STARS-I | ARE 2N (FTU 1) | Kau LP-42 | Success | |
| August 25, 1993 | STARS-I | ARE 2H / Zodiac Beauchamp | Kau LP-42 | Success | |
| July 22, 1994 | STARS-II | ODF (9 Test objects, LEAP, MIT Test object, 4 Balloons) | Kau LP-42 | Success | |
| August 31, 1996 | STARS-II | MDT 2 | Kau LP-42 | Success | |
| November 9, 2001 | STARS-I | WCRRF (West Coast Risk-Reduction Flight) | Kodiak LP-2 | Failure | Faulty flight termination signal |
| December 15, 2004 | STARS-I | ITF 13C Target | Kodiak LP-2 | Success | Not intercepted, OBV failed to launch |
| February 14, 2005 | STARS-I | ITF 14 Target | Kodiak LP-2 | Success | Not intercepted, OBV failed to launch |
| February 24, 2006 | STARS-II | FT04-1 Target | Kodiak LP-2 | Success | |
| September 1, 2006 | STARS-I | FTG-02 Target | Kodiak LP-2 | Success | |
| May 25, 2007 | STARS-I | FTG-03 Target | Kodiak LP-2 | Failure | |
| September 28, 2007 | STARS-I | FTG-03a Target | Kodiak LP-2 | Success | |
| July 18, 2008 | STARS-I | FTX-03 Target | Kodiak LP-2 | Success | |
| December 5, 2008 | STARS-I | FTG-05 Target | Kodiak LP-2 | Success | |
| November 17, 2011 | STARS-IV | AHW-HGB FT-1A | Kauai LP-42 | Success | |
| August 25, 2014 | STARS-IV | AHW-HGB FT-2 | Kodiak LP-2 | Failure | |
| October 30, 2017 | STARS-IV ? | CPS FE-1 | Kauai LP-42 | Success | |
| March 20, 2020 | STARS-IV ? | CPS FE-2 (C-HGB FT-2) | Kauai LP-42 | Success | |
| October 21, 2021 | STARS-IV ? | CPS FE-3 | Kodiak LP-2 | Failure? |
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- Ballistic Missile Defense: Current Status of Strategic Target System (Report). U. S. Government Accountability Office. March 3, 1995. NSIAD-95-78.