Omelek Island is part of the Kwajalein Atoll

Kwajalein

Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...

 in the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

. It is controlled by the United States military under a long-term lease (along with ten other islands in the atoll

Atoll

An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...

) and is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site

Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site

The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, commonly referred to as the Reagan Test Site , is a missile test range in the Pacific Ocean. It covers about and includes rocket launch sites at the Kwajalein Atoll , Wake Island, and Aur Atoll. It primarily functions as a test facility for U.S...

.

Geography

The Island is about 32000 sqm in size. Geologically, it is composed of reef-rock

Reef

In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....

, as are the other islands in the atoll, which is created by the accumulation of marine organism remnants (corals, mollusks, etc.)

History

Omelek has long been used by the United States for small research rocket launches

Rocket launch

A rocket launch is the takeoff phase of the flight of a rocket. Launches for orbital spaceflights, or launches into interplanetary space, are usually from a fixed location on the ground, but may also be from a floating platform such as the San Marco platform, or the Sea Launch launch...

 due to its relative isolation in the South Pacific. The last U.S. government rocket launch occurred in 1996.

More recently, the island's equatorial

Equator

An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....

 proximity and nearby radar tracking infrastructure have attracted SpaceX

SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or more popularly and informally known as SpaceX, is an American space transport company that operates out of Hawthorne, California...

, an orbital launch provider, which updated facilities on the island and established it as their primary launch location. SpaceX began launching Falcon 1

Falcon 1

The Falcon 1 is a partially reusable launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX, a space transportation company in Hawthorne, California. The two-stage-to-orbit rocket uses LOX/RP-1 for both stages, the first powered by a single Merlin engine and the second powered by a single Kestrel engine...

 rockets from Omelek in 2006. Falcon 1 Flight 4

Falcon 1 Flight 4

Ratsat, was a 165-kilogram non-functional boilerplate spacecraft used as a mass simulator on the fourth flight of the Falcon 1 rocket. The non-functional payload was carried due to the Falcon 1 having failed on all of the three previous launches...

, the first successful privately-funded, liquid-propelled orbital launch vehicle

Launch vehicle

In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....

, was launched from Omelek Island on 28 September 2008. Omelek will also soon host launches for the upgraded Falcon 1e

Falcon 1e

The Falcon 1e is an American small partially reusable launch system which is being developed by SpaceX. It will replace the Falcon 1, which was retired in 2009 following five launches, two of which were successful. The Falcon 1e consists of a new first stage, the same second stage used on the...

 rocket.

There is a tentative plan by SpaceX to upgrade the launch site for use by the Falcon 9

Falcon 9

Falcon 9 is a rocket-powered spaceflight launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Both stages of its two-stage-to-orbit vehicle use liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants...

 launch vehicle. , the SpaceX launch manifest gives Omelek (Kwajalein) as a potential site for several Falcon 9 launches, the first in 2012.
and the Falcon 9 Overview document offers Kwajalein as a launch option.

The Reagan Test Site, which includes rocket launch sites on other islands in the Kwajalein Atoll, on Wake Island

Wake Island

Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...

, and at Aur Atoll

Aur Atoll

Aur Atoll is a coral atoll of 42 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area of...

, is the only U.S. government equatorial launch facility.

External links

• Environmental assessment and overview of SpaceX's launch facilities at Omelek