The Kodiak Star mission was the first to launch from NASA's Kodiak Launch Complex. located on Kodiak Island. Alaska.
At 10:40 p.m. Eastern time on September 29. 2001. the 3 stage Lockheed-Martin Athena-I rocket launched four missions.
the Starshine 3 satellite and three Department of Defense Space Test Program payloads. into two separate orbits.
NASA's Starshine 3 satellite was covered in 1.500 aluminum mirrors polished by some 40.000 students in 22 countries.
The mirrors allowed the satellite to be tracked on Earth as it slowed down and entered the atmosphere.
Before burning up. Starshine-3's data provided scientists with knowledge about how the Earth's
upper atmosphere reacts to fluctuations in the sun's ultraviolet radiation during a sunspot cycle.
Some advantages of the Kodiak Launch Complex include a wide-open launch corridor. an unobstructed down-range flight path.
and the ideal location to launch vehicles with payloads requiring low-Earth polar or sun-synchronous orbits.