At Inland Northwest Space Alliance (INSA) Space Policy Institute meeting, MT Rep. Denny Rehberg Recommends That Ex-Cold War Missile May Boost University-Built Satellites

University-built space payloads may get a lift from deactivated intercontinental ballistic missiles that are now on a trajectory for the scrap heap.

The idea is to utilize the Peacekeeper missile, phased out under mutual nuclear arms reduction agreements inked between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The missile’s Cold War mission came to an end earlier this week, after serving 19 years as a key part of U.S. nuclear deterrence strategy. The mothballing of the Peacekeeper is part of a reduction in U.S. missile forces from 6,000 to between 1,700 and 2,200. Russia’s Putin agreed to pursue a similar course of action.

The Peacekeeper began its development back in 1979, and some nine years later became fully operational. According to the U.S. Air Force, each Peacekeeper was built at a cost of about $70 million. The deactivation is estimated to save the Air Force more than $600 million through 2010.

Peacekeeper was designed to carry up to 10 independently targeted warheads. But now they could be tipped with student-built research gear.

Lawmaker support

Rather than mothballing and ultimately destroying dozens of the Peacekeeper missiles, Republican Congressman Dennis Rehberg of Montana is championing steps to use the weapons to lob university payloads into orbit.

Rehberg advanced the idea during the Inland Northwest Space Alliance (INSA) http://www.inwspace.org Space Policy Institute meeting, held here September 16-18 that involved NASA officials, academia and industry experts.

The Missoula-based INSA is a private group created by the University of Montana in 2003. The group is focused on broadening space-related research and commercial applications, particularly in the inland northwest.

“Wouldn’t it be better to take the same amount of money and those missiles to provide the opportunity for the university system to shoot them up into space,” Rehberg said, armed not with warheads but student experiments. “Wouldn’t that make a lot more sense?”

By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer

Full Story: http://space.com/missionlaunches/050922_peacekeeper_student.html