The Eastern Shore can take some pride in the shoot-down of a potentially hazardous defunct satellite early Thursday morning.
Guidance and thruster components of the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) kill vehicle that successfully intercepted a bus-sized satellite moving at 17,000 mph were produced at Raytheon subcontractor ATK?s facility in Elkton.
“ATK made two major components of the SM-3 at our Elkton facility,” spokeswoman Tracy Imm said.
Its components add about $1 million to the cost of each $10 million missile, she said.
ATK provides defense contractor Raytheon with the MK136 third-stage rocket motor and solid divert and attitude control system (SDACS) for the SM-3.
In other words, “pretty cool stuff,” Imm said.
The Navy required one shot to nail the 5,000-pound spy bird with a modified SM-3 at 3:50 a.m. Eastern Time.
President George W. Bush decided to bring down the satellite because of the likelihood that the satellite could release hydrazine fuel if the 1,000-pound-capacity tank remained intact until impact, possibly in populated areas.
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James E. Cartwright said they were quite certain they had hit the fuel tank.
High seas reported Wednesday in the north Pacific posed an obstacle as the USS Lake Erie prepared to launch the three-stage missile, but when the 10-second launch window arrived, seas were recorded at 1 to 2 feet.
A Pentagon statement said Thursday debris from the destroyed satellite was being monitored but was unlikely to cause harm on Earth. “Nearly all ofthe debris will burn up on re-entry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days.”
No parts larger than a “football” survived the impact, Cartwright said.
