U.S. to Send Ton of Sand Into Space : Satellites: Air Force plans 'a $70-million sandbox' to replace a scrapped system in Milstar communications project.

By RALPH VARTABEDIAN

Dec. 22, 1993 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

In what has been a tightly kept secret, the Air Force is preparing to launch 2,000 pounds of sand into orbit next year on a Milstar communications satellite to replace the weight from an electronic system that was never completed, The Times has learned.

The controversial $27.4-billion satellite program, designed to be the Pentagon’s main communications link during a global nuclear war, is coming under increasing scrutiny, both because of its high cost and limited usefulness in the aftermath of the Cold War.

The RAND Corp. issued a report Tuesday saying the Air Force should consider canceling the Milstar, saving taxpayers $5 billion for four future Milstar satellites and about $1.5 billion for the Titan IV launch rockets over the next four years.

An Air Force official knowledgeable about Milstar said the sand, encased in aluminum, was installed as dead weight as a replacement for the sophisticated electronic gear that had undisclosed problems.

The disclosure was corroborated by another official knowledgeable about Milstar. Neither official agreed to be identified by name. In a written statement, the Air Force acknowledged that one of two satellites already built has the ballast, but the other one does not.

The high cost of space launches usually requires that every ounce of payload be carefully controlled. The launch of a ton of dead weight--about what a small car weighs--would be unprecedented, according to the Air Force official and other experts.

The Milstar is to be launched aboard a $350-million Titan IV rocket, which can carry 10,000 pounds into high Earth orbit. That means it would cost taxpayers about $70 million to send the sand into space, according to John Pike, a space expert at the Federation of American Scientists.

“A ton of sand is the silliest thing I have ever heard of,” Pike said. “Lord knows there are all kinds of scientific instruments in laboratories around the country waiting for a ride into space.”

The ballast was required because every satellite must be precisely balanced in orbit, and when the equipment was removed, something of equal mass had to be substituted, according to Milstar experts.

RAND, which was asked by the Air Force to study the issue earlier this year, asserted that the future Milstars may be unaffordable and of limited use in conventional wars. The Santa Monica-based think tank recommended that the two Milstar satellites already built be launched but future ones be reconsidered. RAND officials said an alternative to the Milstar system could be built for half the cost.

“There is going to be only a certain amount of taxpayer money for the military, and the Air Force is concerned that they spend their money in the most efficient manner,” said RAND Vice President George L. Donohue.

The Milstar system is being developed and built by a team of California aerospace contractors led by Lockheed, Hughes Aircraft and TRW. But much about the controversial program remains highly classified, including the number of employees who work on it, according to Lockheed spokesman Eric DeRitis.

DeRitis criticized the RAND report as information that “has been stated time and time again over the last several years. What the RAND report doesn’t state is that the Administration conducted a bottom up review in September and found there is still a need for the satellite.”

He added: “We understand the program cost is high, but it is still considered a requirement by the current Administration and the Air Force.”

Lockheed and Air Force officials declined to say how much Milstar is costing, but Pike said that about $7.5 billion has been spent since the program began in 1980 and another $7.5 billion will be spent by 1999. The RAND report noted that each Milstar costs $1 billion to $1.4 billion, not including the communications terminals on the ground.

Daniel Gonzales, primary author of the RAND report, said the Pentagon plans to buy 360 terminals at $6 million each and 840 more terminals for at least $1 million each--a total cost of more than $3 billion. But Gonzales noted the Pentagon may have to buy terminals for whatever satellite system it eventually builds.

The specific electronic equipment removed from the satellite is classified. Pike said he believes the equipment may have been a data-relay system, used to receive and transmit information from secret spy satellites to Earth stations. It remains unclear what problems caused it to be removed.

The Milstar is designed to resist enemy jamming and be able to continue operating even with nuclear bombs being detonated in the atmosphere.

Milstar is the biggest communications satellite in history, weighing more than 7,500 pounds and having a main body larger than the Hubble space telescope.

The Milstar also is the first satellite equipped with rockets that could allow it to elude enemy missiles.

“Milstar is virtually useless for anything but fighting World War III,” Pike said. “This isn’t a $500 toilet seat. It is a $70-million sandbox.”

At the same time, Milstar has very limited communications capacity.

It has only 192 channels for communications and most of those are low-data Teletype channels that would be unable to handle even the transmissions from a lap-top computer.

It can carry only several dozen telephone calls with low-voice quality because the signals are encrypted. By comparison, a standard commercial communications satellite can carry 70,000 telephone calls simultaneously.

The quality of the Milstar voice transmission is also poor, because the signals are encrypted to prevent enemies from eavesdropping.

“You can understand what is being said, but the speaker sounds like Donald Duck,” Gonzales said.