SDI Rocket Goes Astray, Is Destroyed

An out-of-control rocket carrying secret “Star Wars” experiments was destroyed 23 seconds after liftoff Tuesday, and burning debris slammed into a remote area of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The 29-foot Aries rocket was destroyed 1 1/2 miles above the station when the booster veered sharply off course.

A few pieces of debris may have crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, but the bulk of it came down on a section of the base a few miles from the launch pad, officials said. No injuries were reported.

It was the second time in three months that an Orbital Sciences Corp. rocket had to be blown up by remote control shortly after liftoff.

“We certainly aren’t satisfied with anything but a purely successful launch,” said Orbital Sciences spokeswoman Laura Ayres. “But in the launch business, these things happen, and we’ll work to determine what the problem was and get it fixed and move on.”

The booster was supposed to head east-northeast, but it instead hurtled south.

It was the first of two Aries launches planned this week from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at a cost of $10 million, not including the experiments. The short, suborbital flights were part of the Red Tigress program, a series of experiments aimed at the development of missile-detecting sensors. The research is part of the Pentagon’s “Star Wars” program, officially known as the Strategic Defense Initiative.

The rocket was supposed to boost the experiments to an altitude of between 248 miles and 310 miles. The plan called for the rocket to fall into the sea 62 miles to 93 miles from the launch site nine minutes after liftoff.

Civilian space analysts said they believe infrared sensors on the ground and on aircraft were to have tracked the rocket in an effort to learn how to recognize enemy missiles and distinguish them from decoys and natural phenomena.

Air Force Maj. Carolyn Channave, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said another launch planned for Friday probably would be delayed.