Hey everyone,

Unfortunately the Air Force has contacted us and has rescinded their permission for us to launch this weekend. They will not let us launch on Saturday OR Sunday, not even with lowered altitude ceilings (I tried everything!!), While the AF has, in the past, not allowed us to launch on a Saturday, we have always been able to launch on at least the next day on Sunday. Unfortunately because they have denied permission on both days, we will not be able to launch again until September. This is because we are required to have an FAA waiver on our launch days. At the end of each year, I submit the entire year in advance to ensure we have our waivers in order. This process takes several months, so even if I were to put in a waiver today, it would not be approved until November at the earliest, which , as you can see, is a little late for an August launch date.

Our launch site location is pretty good, and has been utilized for over 20 years by the MDAR group. However, for SKAR, it has been a pain in the butt. We have to request special permission from the AF each month, and never know until a few days before if we are launching on a saturday or a sunday. This can be very frustrating for members, especially those that come out from farther away. Due to this issue, and this weekends completely cancellation without any reason given, Kevin and I have decided that we are going to search for a new launch location. One that is not in the R2515 or R2508 complex. Or any restricted airspace for that matter. I have gotten a lead on a couple of locations closer to Rosamond and will be checking them out this weekend. Hopefully one of these will pan out and we can have a much more stable launch schedule.

We will maintain the current launch site until a new one is ready, and the appropriate FAA waivers have been submit.

-Chris