Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site

Kwajalein infrastructure and RTS headquarters, click to enlarge.

An exoatmospheric kill vehicle (kinetic penetrator, mid-phase) is launched from Meck Island on 3 December 2001

The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, commonly referred to as the Reagan Test Site (formerly Kwajalein Missile Range), is a missile test range in Marshall Islands (Pacific Ocean). It covers about 750,000 square miles (1,900,000 km²) and includes rocket launch sites at the Kwajalein Atoll (on multiple islands), Wake Island, and Aur Atoll. It primarily functions as a test facility for U.S. missile defense and space research programs. The Reagan Test Site is under the command of the US Army Kwajalein Atoll, or USAKA (pronounced /uːˈsɑːkə/).

Purpose and facilities

The facility is part of the Defense Major Range and Test Facility Base. They provide range instrumentation, missile launch facilities, mission control center, range safety, meteorological support, and support space operations. As of 2015^[update], the facility's budget was US$182 million. The site hosts a suite of unique instrumentation, located on eight islands throughout the Kwajalein Atoll. This instrumentation includes a comprehensive suite of precision metric and signature radars, optical sensors, telemetry receiving stations, and impact scoring assets. RTS provides both mobile and fixed ground and flight safety instrumentation. With RTS's state of the art Mission Control Center and its vast range complex, the RTS sensors provide unparalleled capabilities to optimize ballistic missile & ballistic missile interceptor testing.^[1] The Pentagon lease for the islands of the Kwajalein Atoll extends through 2066.^[2]

Equipment installed at the test site includes various tracking radars, stationary and mobile telemetry, optical recording equipment and a secure fiberoptic data network via the HANTRU-1 undersea cable. The Reagan Test Site also serves as a tracking station for manned space flight and NASA research projects.

Launch activities at the test site include ballistic missile tests, ABM interception tests, meteorological sounding rockets, and a commercial spaceport for SpaceX at Omelek Island.

Population

There are about 2,500 permanent residents of Kwajalein, including 1,200 employees of Bechtel and Lockheed Martin’s Kwajalein Range Services and more than 800 dependents. The Bechtel employees are located on 11 sites spread across 7,000 miles (11,000 km) and seven time zones.^[3] The civilian jobs on the facility are managed under contract by Bechtel. Depending on the job, some positions are unaccompanied. Positions usually include housing and meals. Vehicles are not permitted. Workers on the facility may qualify for tax-exempt status in the United States. The Americans are supported by about 900 Marshallese workers who take a ferry from the capital Majuro to the base.^[2] Bechtel provides a wide variety of support services to the Department of Defense and military personnel and their families. These include dining operations, public utilities, medical and dental care, transportation, firefighting, recreational activities, youth and education services, retail, religious services, and newspaper, radio, and TV access.^[3]

A Catholic and a Presbyterian chaplain are employed by Bechtel. There are also religious services available for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Location

The mission control center, along with most of the personnel and infrastructure, is located at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.^[4] Eleven of the atoll's islands are operated by the U.S. military under a long term lease (through 2066) with the Republic of the Marshall Islands.^[5]