KMI Retrospective: Keweenaw Rocket Range

Elizabeth Fust, Communications Coordinator

6 minute read

Left: Memorial marking the Keweenaw Rocket Range site. Right: Nike Apache rocket lifting off from the Keweenaw Rocket Range on its way to space in January 1971. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper County Historical Collections. This Image is from the MS-525, Roland Burgan Collection)

Over two years ago, I found myself careening down a dirt track road on a borrowed mountain bike down toward the shore of Lake Superior. I am not a mountain biker, but I am a writer and on that day I was pursuing a story for the Marquette Monthly magazine about the launch site of the first rocket from Michigan to reach space. Back then I had no idea that it would become my daily job to keep up to date on and to write about Michigan’s growing aerospace industry.

Michigan’s history and the auto industry are intertwined, I say Ford and you think Michigan cars. I say Ford, and I think about an automotive leader who was responsible for U.P. lumber industry and maintaining community in the Upper Peninsula through world wars and depressions (oh hey, that’s another story I wrote on Michigan ghost towns like Ford’s company town, Pequaming). Industry, be it automotive or aerospace or what have you, has a responsibility to its community - local, global, and galactic.

The auto industry is going strong in Michigan, and from the same vein as those engineers, scientists, and dreamers, the aerospace industry has started to grow here. In the U.P., that history shows strongly from the shore in Keweenaw where a stone memorial notes the launch site of the joint NASA and University of Michigan Keweenaw Rocket Range. It is important to look to and learn from the past and at KMI we have a deep respect for the research and history of those engineers, scientists, and dreamers as we build towards keeping space clear for all.

Note: This article was originally published in September 2019 in the Marquette Monthly magazine and is reprinted here with Marquette Monthly’s permission. As such, the mention of the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association’s consideration of U.P. locations for launch sites is out of date, because as of 2020 two U.P. sites were officially selected.

Rocket Range: The U.P. was, and continues to be, a player in space

The remote wilderness of the Upper Peninsula has always lent itself to exploration and discovery. One of the more intrepid explorations to occur in the U.P. is barely noted in history books, but the effort is commemorated by a marble slab deep in the woods at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Chipped and battered by the weather and violence of Lake Superior, the slab reads, “The Keweenaw Rocket Range—The State of Michigan established a rocket range on this site which was used from 1964-1971. Michigan’s first rocket to enter space was launched from this site on Jan. 29, 1971.”

The Space Age was just beginning when in 1962 University of Michigan officials suggested that the shore of Lake Superior would be a suitable location for a rocket range to acquire meteorological data. Due to the remoteness of the location—10 miles from the nearest town, Copper Harbor, and surrounded by stretches of open water—the site was well suited for launching rockets to gather data, testing weapons systems, or conducting environmental or atmospheric tests and experiments. Lake Superior was the intended impact zone as the rockets were typically not meant to be reclaimed. The only potential impediments to the project were watercraft traffic and the lack of electricity or phone service at the site. A report of all these considerations was put together and submitted to NASA. With NASA’s approval and assistance, the Keweenaw Rocket Range was created and it joined the Meteorological Rocket Network, a system of similar rocket sites established to gather atmospheric data.

Aerial view of Keweenaw Rocket Range, circa 1960s — The University of Michigan's rocket launch site at the tip of upper Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula shows up as a narrow clearing in the forest in this aerial view. Lake Superior is at the bottom left corner of the picture. A group of NASA equipment vans make up the command center for the site's upcoming launchings of two Nike-Apache sounding rockets. The two 28-foot rockets are kept in the small shed near the lake-end of the clearing. A Y-shaped rocket launcher is barely visible between the shed and Lake Superior. (Image courtesy of NASA)

The first launches in the Keweenaw were in 1964. Five small rockets were launched to gather data to fill a gap in the meteorological network, which was conducting tests to determine wind temperature patterns across the Northern Hemisphere. When winter crept over the Upper Peninsula, the launcher was moved to another range while the Keweenaw Range was shut down for the winter. In 1965, another project was started at the range, Project WEBROCK–an acronym for Weather Buoy Rockets. This initiative tested the feasibility of launching meteorological rockets from remote ocean platforms. Despite the harsh winter conditions, which occasionally postponed tests, this project ran year-round until 1967. The results were favorable and led to further testing at the site, which became project NOMAD from 1968 to 1969. A NOMAD buoy was towed off Keweenaw point and served as a launch pad for small meteorological rockets.

According to a Wikipedia entry, three University of Michigan professors, two Michigan Technological University professors and two employees from the White Sands missile range were the minimum crew required for the missile range.

After this project came one of the most noted accomplishments at the range. In 1971, two Nike-Apache rockets, the largest to be launched from the range, were fired 100 miles into the stratosphere to gather data on the warming of the upper atmosphere in the winter. Thus flew the first rocket from Michigan to enter space. These two-stage rockets were 27 feet tall.

Sean Potter, NASA media relations specialist, shared the following notes from NASA’s recording of the Nike Apache project: “Jan. 29, 1970: Nike-Apache rocket science – Ionospheric Physics Experimenter – Aikins from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (no longer is there) – Successful mission. Jan. 31, 1970: Nike-Apache rocket science – Ionospheric physics Experimenter – Goldberg from the Goddard Space Flight Center (no longer is there) – Successful mission.”

Despite the success of all projects at the range, the Nike-Apache rockets were the last rockets to fly from the Keweenaw. Funding ran out and the land became state property. The plaque was installed on the concrete pad used for the launch equipment and not much else is left to distinguish the site. However, the site also marks the location of a peaceful pebble beach for those who make the trek.

The site was originally chosen for its all-season accessibility, and adventurers can still reach the spot year-round, according to Sam Raymond, co-owner of the Keweenaw Adventure Company in Copper Harbor. “The High Rock Bay Road is groomed for snowmobiles and that is part of the snowmobile trail system,” Sam says. “There is currently a human-powered trail that goes all the way from Copper Harbor to the rocket launch site.”

This is the Keweenaw Point Trail. Trail maps can be purchased at the Keweenaw Adventure Company on the way to the site. Or those interested can follow these directions to get there:

Start at the end of the road, (though technically this “end of the road” is the beginning of US 41, located just east of Copper Harbor) which becomes Mandan Road. Most vehicles can traverse this dirt two-track under good conditions, but it gets rougher as it goes. Five miles down, another road splits off, an old logging road, High Rock Road. All wheel drive vehicles can make the drive with some care. There are few places along the 2.5 miles to pull off for an oncoming vehicle. Four wheelers can make this trip without problem. Mountain bikers may find this seasonal road with its hills and rocky terrain equivalent to a moderate mountain biking trail. After this stretch, a fork in the road allows adventurers to go right to High Rock Bay, or choose the left fork which leads to the rocket range where visitors are greeted by the plaque set against the backdrop of Lake Superior, Manitou Island and its lighthouse framing the scene.

Though the Keweenaw Rocket Range has been left behind, the Space Age continues and the U.P. is again in the spotlight for aerospace activities. At the end of June, a nanosatellite designed by Michigan Tech students was successfully launched into space. Its purpose is to improve accuracy in tracking the thousands of natural (meteoroids) and manmade objects and debris that orbit the earth.

Also, the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association (MAMA) is planning to build a major rocket/satellite launching facility somewhere in the state. Two of the handful of sites the organization is considering for this “spaceport” are located in the Upper Peninsula: Sawyer in Marquette County and Kincheloe in Chippewa County. It is hoped that MAMA will announce its selection during its 2019 Space Symposium, which will be held in Grand Rapids Sept. 9 and 10.

It seems the U.P. still has much to offer for exploring the heavens.

Elizabeth Fust, Marquette Monthly, September 2019

The above article is presented as it was printed in September 2019. Since then, much has changed for the U.P. and the future of space with several aerospace companies finding their foundations here. As the Marquette Monthly story says, the Michigan Launch Initiative too has sought the U.P. out for its projects. KMI is dedicated to the U.P. and keeping space clear for all, and as Troy Morris said it best with the Mining Journal on November 23, 2021, “KMI is not directly involved with any spaceport projects, but we would like to see any space or local project being developed to include ecological responsibility, economic inclusion and serious engagement with stakeholders.”

Recommended column to read next: Pricing it Right: The Fresnel Project