posted 08-30-2015 08:51 PM               

Space Cover #332: Barking Sands Rocket Launches

One of the lesser known locations for sounding rocket and missile launches is at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Barking Sands, Hawaii. In 1942 an airfield is officially renamed as Barking Sands Air Force Base and in 1954 the base is renamed again as Bonham Air Force Base for Major Carlos W. Bonham, Commanding Officer of the 199th Fighter Squadron, Territory of Hawaii Air National Guard who died in a mid-air collision with another F-47 near the air base. In 1957 the base was transferred to the Navy and the first contingent of Sailors arrive, setting up the first instrumentation vans near the airstrip to make it operational in supporting submarine launches of the Regulus missile. In 1964 the base became part of the Pacific Missile Range and renamed the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands.

Covers can be found for many of the early launches as part of the Pacific Missile Range as pictured above. These covers are cancelled at Waimea, Hawaii which hosted a tracking facility for both the Pacific Missile Range and a Manned Space Flight network facility for the NASA manned space programs.

The corner card for the covers had the return address of "Pacific Missile Range Tracking Facility Barking Sands" Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii. And the servicer wrote the rocket launched on that date – for example – Regulus, Tomahawk-Dart, Judi-Dart, etc.

I have not seen any postmarks for the actual Air Force bases or "Barking Sands" so these covers are the closest to actual launch location covers I have been able to find.

Missile Defense Agency programs that currently utilize the range at PMRF are the Navy's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System and the Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD).

Other sounding rocket programs also continue to utilize the range.

posted 08-31-2015 02:03 PM               

It is true that very similar covers to yours are available.

My earliest date for Barking Sands is this cover postmarked Waimea, Hawaii February 3rd, 1965 and marks the Regulus missile launch.

Another cover from same frame period is the following, postmarked June 17th, 1965 with a Swanson ?? rubber stamp cachet for a Nike-Apache rocket launch.