Poker Flat Research Range
The nation’s only high-latitude rocket range
Welcome to Poker Flat Research Range – the largest land-based rocket research range in the world and the only high-latitude rocket range in the United States.
Poker Flat Research Range is located in Interior Alaska. With special permission from federal, state and tribal landowners, rockets can launch and fly over the sparsely populated tundra hundreds of miles north of the range. Additionally, the range is situated beneath the auroral oval, which provides ample opportunities to support scientists’ examination of the aurora.
General Information
Poker Flat Research Range is the world’s only scientific rocket launching facility owned by a university. Poker Flat is operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute under contract with NASA‘s Wallops Flight Facility, which is part of Goddard Space Flight Center. In addition to launching sounding rockets, Poker Flat is home to many scientific instruments designed to study the Arctic atmosphere and ionosphere.
Most sounding rocket launches occur between January and March. Scientists come from around the world to use the facility for their research projects.
Facilities
Poker Flat is fully equipped to support high-latitude rocket launches and other related research. Our facilities include multiple launch pads, a payload assembly building, a LIDAR facility and rocket storage. Learn about the range facilities.
History
Space science research on the northern lights that dance in winter skies above Alaska began at the University of Alaska in the 1920s, but it wasn’t until after the Geophysical Institute was established by Congress in 1946 that scientists became interested in using sounding rockets as a major means of studying the aurora. Read about the creation of Poker Flat and the early days of the Geophysical Institute.