This page intentionally left blank. FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR LAUNCH OF NASA ROUTINE PAYLOADS ON EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLES TITLE PAGE Lead Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Cooperating Agencies: Federal Aviation Administration, Air Force Space and Missile System Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command; Alaska Aerospace Corporation is a participating agency. Proposed Action: NASA routine spacecraft as payloads on expendable launch vehicles from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida; Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands; NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia; and Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska. For Further Information: George Tahu, Program Executive, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW, Mail Stop 3X63, Washington, D.C. 20546. 202-358-0723,
[email protected]. Date: November 2011 Abstract: This Final Environmental Assessment updates the Final Environmental Assessment for Launch of NASA Routine Payloads on Expendable Launch Vehicles from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (June 2002) and addresses NASA’s proposed action to launch a variety of spacecraft missions. The spacecraft used in these missions are considered routine payloads; the same threshold quantities and characteristics describe them all, and they would present no new or substantial environmental impacts or hazards as compared to previously analyzed and documented impacts. These scientific and technology demonstration missions are needed for U.S. space and Earth exploration. All spacecraft (referred to as NASA routine payloads [NRP]) examined in this environmental assessment would meet rigorously defined criteria to ensure that the spacecraft and their launch and operation would not present any new or substantial environmental or safety concerns.