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Behind the scenes of an ICBM launch

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — A brilliant flash of light startled the rolling central California hills out of their slumber early in the morning of Nov. 5. There was no sound at first — it took a few seconds for the sound of the blast to travel the mile or so to the launch-viewing platform — just eye-searing white light.

A ball of flame roared skyward, and out of the conflagration emerged Glory Trip 198, a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, rising slowly as it began its trans-Pacific journey from Vandenberg to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The roar defies description, though it bore some resemblance to an F-16 afterburner as it screams down the runway on takeoff.

The ICBM gained speed. Within a minute, the rocket had accelerated to nearly 5,000 mph and reached an altitude of 100,000 feet.

Another flash of light marked the sky as the rocket’s second stage ignited and the first was jettisoned. The spent first stage fell earthward, its red-hot tail tumbling end over end.

Two minutes into the flight, GT-198 was traveling more than 10,000 mph. It had reached an altitude of 350,000 feet and was 120 miles downrange, but was still clearly visible in the night sky.

As the third stage ignited and the second fell toward Earth, the rocket roared toward its top speed of nearly 15,000 mph. At 750,000 feet, a platform holding the dummy warhead was in low orbit.

The missile’s fireball disappeared abruptly from the sky. Show over.

A half-hour later, the warhead splashed down 4,190 miles away near the Kwajalein Atoll.

Successful launches

Similar scenes play out at Vandenberg about a dozen times per year — three ICBM tests like GT-198 and the remainder space-lift missions to launch satellites. The launches are almost always successful. The last time an ICBM test went awry was in the mid-1990s, a base spokesman said.

But launches are anything but routine.

Airmen start prepping for an ICBM test launch about six months out, and they go through three dress rehearsals.

“The sexy part ... is the night of the launch,” said Lt. Col. Marc Del Rosario, commander of the 2nd Range Operations Squadron at Vandenberg. “Everybody sees the roar, rumble and thunder of a rocket going into space ... but there’s a lot of work that goes into performing this operation.”

Besides the dozens of contractors at sites across the Pacific, the launch involves about 300 people from the 576th Flight Test Squadron at Vandenberg, which coordinates the test and post-launch data collection and analysis; the 2nd Range Operations Squadron, which controls hundreds of thousands of miles of air, sea and ground space between the launch and target sites and coordinates dispersed radar and data-collection sites; and the missileers and maintenance crews who own the missile being tested, in this case the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.

After the 576th Flight Test Squadron identified the missile to be tested about 180 days before the launch, operations and maintenance crews at F.E. Warren spent a few months running tests on the missile and then taking it apart and packing it for shipment.

The missile and crews from F.E. Warren arrived about 60 days before launch, and joined maintainers from the 576th to reassemble the missile and add test-specific safety, positioning and data components. Each test missile is armed with a safety system that allows operators to destroy it in flight if it veers off course.

This launch was only the second time that maintainers from the operational unit traveled to Vandenberg to reassemble their missile. Previously, maintainers from the 576th filled that duty.

“The whole intent is to operationalize the test processes,” said Maj. Dale Overholts, maintenance operations officer for the 576th. “The focus is to let the operational technicians who have pulled this thing out of the hole [at F.E. Warren] and brought it down to Vandenberg build it back up on the receiving end.”

The missile went on alert in its silo on Oct. 15, and the launch crew from F.E. Warren began pulling 24-hour alert shifts at the launch control facility at Vandenberg.

During a typical test, the launch crews actually turn the keys to launch the missile, but for this test, crews aboard an E-6B airborne launch control system did the honor. The airborne system allows missiles to be launched even if ground launch facilities have been knocked out by the enemy.

On launch night, crews begin arriving at their stations about four hours before launch time.

As the launch hour approaches, the officers begin working more intently to make sure the missile and launch crews are ready to go, said Capt. William Bragg, the squadron’s test operations flight commander.

“The closer to launch it gets, the more silent it gets,” he said. “The last two minutes [of the countdown are] the longest part of the launch.”

A few minutes away at the Western Range operations control center, officers ensure the range is clear of safety hazards and that the weather is suitable for launch.

“We ensure that all aircraft, all boats, any trains are cleared of the airspace prior to a launch,” Del Rosario said. “We give a [safe] area … in order to shoot a rocket or a test missile.”

The officers also communicate with far-flung radar and data-collection sites to make sure they are online and ready to collect and transmit data from the test launch.

All of that information is funneled to Capt. Donald Kentner, the mission’s range operations commander. He vouches that the range is ready and makes a launch recommendation to the space-lift commander, in this case Col. Steven Winters, 30th Space Wing vice commander. Winters then makes the final call and orders the launch.

During the final hour or so of the countdown, there are dozens of checklists. Finally, about seven seconds before launch, the door to the silo slides back and the launch commences.