Poker Flat Research Range

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The Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) is a launch facility and rocket range for sounding rockets in the U.S. state of Alaska, owned and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Geophysical Institute since 1968. The world's largest land-based rocket range, it is situated on a 5,132-acre (20.7 km²) site located approximately 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Fairbanks and is operated under contract to NASA's Goddard-Wallops Flight Facility. Since its inception PFRR has been closely aligned and funded by the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), the Naval Research Lab (NRL), and the Air Force's Geophysics Lab (AFGL). More than 1,700 launches have been conducted at the range to study the Earth's atmosphere and the interaction between the atmosphere and the space environment .^[1] Areas studied at PFRR include the aurora, plasma physics, the ozone layer, solar proton events, Earth's magnetic field, and ultraviolet radiation.

The PFRR originated from University of Alaska auroral research in the 1920s. Sounding rockets were first used for this in 1946. In 1968 the UAF Geophysical Institute leased the land that became the PFRR from the state of Alaska, and the range's facilities were initially completed in 1972. Construction of new facilities was undertaken in the 1990s with a $30 million grant provided by Congress. Refurbishment of older facilities is an ongoing project.^[2]

Support facilities at Poker Flat Research Range include five launch pads, including two optimized for severe weather operations capable of handling rockets weighing up to 35,000 lbs. Launches have attained an apogee of up to 930 miles and impact on the arctic ice shelf over 1,100 miles downrange. Range facilities include a administrative facility, a blockhouse, several rocket assembly buildings, a 2-story science observatory, and a payload assembly building. Three S band antennas are used to collect telemetry, and a C band radar is used for tracking.^[3]

Poker Flat's scope of activities is ever changing with the recent addition of SRL's AMISR fixed array antenna and the recent purchase of a Insitu UAV/UAS (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle/Unmanned Aerial System).

The Alaska Ground Station (AGS) together with the Honeywell Datalynx PF1 supports PFRR operations of many NASA and other nation's spacecraft including Aqua, Aura, Terra, and Landsat 7 with S band and X band services. PF1 is part of the Earth Observing System Polar Ground Network (EPGN), along with the Alaska Ground Station (AGS). Other ground stations in the EPGN include the Svalbard Ground Station (SGS), the Kongsberg-Lockheed Martin ground station (SKS), and the Svalsat ground station (SG3) in Norway.