William Atkins
Saturday, 06 December 2008 21:07
Science -
Space
Page 3 of 4
Lt. General Pataraick O-Reilly, MDA leader, stated,
“It was the largest, most complex test we have ever done.” [Fox News]
It is reported that the test cost between $120 to $150 million.
The Orbital Sciences Corporation press release (“
Orbital's OBV Rocket Successfully Launched for Missile Defense Interceptor System Test”) stated,
“Following a preliminary post-flight analysis of the data collected from the mission, MDA and the GMD team confirmed that all primary OBV objectives for FTG-05 were achieved.”
And,
“These included pre-launch built-in test functionality, launch and flyout of the OBV, accurate delivery of the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) payload and acquisition of telemetry data for further characterization of the OBV’s flight characteristics.”
The MDA press release (pdf file) (“
Missile Defense Flight Test Results in Successful Intercept”) stated,
“The flight test results will help to further refine the performance of numerous Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) elements able to provide a defense against the type of long-range ballistic missile that could be used to attack the nation with a weapon of mass destruction.”
For more information, please visit the Boeing website “
Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) System.”
An overview of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System appears on the MDA website “
Missile Defense Worldwide” (pdf file).
Page four contains an excerpt from the Air Force article "
Missile defense site named after President
Reagan."
