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User:Trasheater Midir/Strategic Target System

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STARS rocket at the Kauai Test Facility

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

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ Parsch, Andreas. "Sandia STARS". www.designation-systems.net. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Krebs, Gunter Dirk. "STARS". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved July 22, 2024.