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 the only university owned and operated rocket range in the world. 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, 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 completed in 1972.^[2]

Support facilities at Poker Flat Research Range include five launch pads, including two optimized for severe weather operations. Range facilities include a blockhouse and a payload assembly building. Three S band antennas are used to collect telemetry, and a C band radar is used for tracking.^[3]

The Honeywell Datalynx PF1 ground station supports PFRR operations of many NASA 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.