Concerning possible new American or American/Danish rocket campaign Kangerlussuaq

On 18 July, 1998 I received via e-mail the following from the USA:

My name is Jeff Thayer and I have recently been appointed the lead principal investigator in charge of managing and operating the Sondrestrom radar facility in Greenland.  John Kelly remains as supervisor of the project.  I and Craig Heinselman, past site supervisor for ten years and presently completing his PhD at Stanford University, will be traveling to Europe this September and would like to schedule a visit to the Danish Polar Center.  If you, and any other appropriate people, could be available for a few hours that would be greatly appreciated.  The nature of the visit would be to reacquaint ourselves with the DPC and discuss with you and others Greenland issues.

One topic we would like to discuss is the possibility of launching ionospheric sounding rockets from the rocket range in Kangerlussuaq.  As you recall, sounding rockets were launched in 1985 and 1987 from Kangerlussuaq and renewed interest by NASA and scientists have raised the issue of returning to Kangerlussuaq to, once again, launch rockets.

With reference to this, it has now been agreed that Jeff Thayer will visit the Danish Polar Center Tuesday, 15 September, from approximately 8:30 to 12:30 prior to his leaving for Germany.

At the meeting, Jeff Thayer will, among other things, review the American plans for a rocket campaign.

This will be the first time a rocket launch is planned since the Home Rule took over Kangerlussuaq.

For your information a summary of the previous rocket campaigns from Søndre Strømfjord is included.  The scientific liaison officer’s material concerning completion of the earlier campaigns is available in connection with the new proceedings.

The following issues come immediately to mind:
 

• Application shall be processed via the usual diplomatic channels, but the work will require a good deal of time, so permit requests or preliminary permit requests should be made well in advance.  That will allow the appropriate determination of a common procedure for handling the request by both DPC and Home Rule.

•  Transportation of rocket motors.  The rocket motors will probably be sent up by ship the summer prior to the campaign.  There will, probably as a joint activity between the Police and the Traffic Directorate/Airport Administration, be developed rules for the transport of the rocket motors to Kangerlussuaq and for local transport in the vicinity of the Airport.
•  Storage of rocket motors.  The rocket motors will need to be stored safely and in a frost-free environment until the actual campaign.
• Launch equipment.  The rocket launchers shall have Danish/Greenlandic approval.  As in the past, one may wish to ask for help from the (Danish) Defence department rocket experts.
•  Evaluation of impact (of the rockets/payloads).  As with earlier campaigns, one may want to involve the Defence department’s ballistic experts in the calculation of rocket trajectories and impact areas for the various booster stages as well as the payload.  After this one may determine approval procedures for the launches.
• Environmental Impact.  The Greenlandic environmental authority should evaluate environmental questions in connection with transport, storage, and impact of the rocket motors and payloads (which may contain chemicals).
•  Use of telemetry.  Greenlands Telecommunications Department should be involved to ensure against interference of Greenland’s radio chain and frequency allocations.  Telecom and Airport Administration might be involved in the evaluation of requirements for radio silence in the launch area to insure against unintended early ignition of the rocket motors.

• Aircraft safety.  The (Danish)States Air Traffic Control should, early on, be included in connection with NOTAM for warnings to air traffic, as well as for the determination of launch windows, to minimize the impact on international air traffic.  The Home Rule’s Traffic Directorate and Airport Administration and Greenland Air might be included in connection with local traffic around Kangerlussuaq.

• For carrying out the rocket campaign there should be clear defined rules for who has the overall responsibility (Americans) and who has veto power for launch for reasons of ground- and air-safety (Danish/Greenlandic authorities).
• In my opinion requirements should be made that the experimenters (Americans) shall cover Danish and Greenlandic expenses in connection with control of the activities (e.g., travel and lodging for Danish military personnel).

With friendly regards,

Jørgen Taagholt