Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
achedden@currentargus.com
Rocket fired from New Mexico signifies state’s growing role in atomic weapons
A rocket launched from southern New Mexico on June 13 was used to help develop the technology for launching atomic weapons as the federal government rebuilds its nuclear arsenal.
The device, carrying a non-nuclear payload, was fired from White Sand Missile Range by Los Alamos National Laboratory. The launch was intended to replicate an atomic missile launch.
The test came as Los Alamos planned to ramp up the production of plutonium pits, the nuclear element that triggers warheads, to 30 pits a year by 2030. Another 50 pits will be produced annually by the Savannah River Site in South Carolina for a total of 80 by the end of the decade.
The effort to modernize U.S. nuclear capabilities means periodically testing for the launch of nuclear weapons as required by the federal Stockpile Readiness Program established in 2016. Los Alamos said the June launch was the second of four planned this year.
The payload was the first that was 3-D printed by Kansas City National Security at its campus in Albuquerque, and the first launched by a Spyder rocket designed by UP Aerospace.
The rocket reached the edge of space, performed a suborbital flight, then released the payload and returned to the ground. Throughout the flight, data was gathered on the aircraft’s performance as it would be used to launch a nuclear weapon.
“The data we receive is invaluable in allowing us to assess performance and make modifications to improve it,” said Justin McGlown, Los Alamos flight lead for the launch.
He touted the program, which readied the rocket and payload in three years – a shorter timeframe, McGlown said, than previous similar launches.
“This program requires that we work quickly and keep down costs,” McGlown said. “Historically, launching a payload into space took years, sometimes decades, and hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The results of the demonstration would help determine modifications scientists could make to future aircraft and devices used to deliver nuclear payloads, said Jordan Shoemakers, Los Alamos program manager.
“We can learn about the performance of new materials in extreme temperatures, for example, and evaluate hardware and electronics under more realistic accelerations and vibration profiles,” he said.
Pit production draws concern
But as technology was developed to deploy the nation’s nuclear stockpile, debate continued as to the need to rebuild the pits and New Mexico’s role in the work.
A May report by the Union of Concerned Scientists argued more pits were unnecessary as much of the existing stockpile could be reused. The report also said the rebuilding process unduly puts nearby communities at risk, arguing that more production means more risk of worker accidents and exposure to radiation.
The first pit in more than a decade was produced in October 2024 at Los Alamos, and Dylan Spaulding, senior scientist at the Union, said the project made it clear that the federal government did not intend to back down from the production and potential use of nuclear weapons.
“Shifting the U.S. nuclear weapons program back into ‘production mode’ feeds a global arms race and shows that the U.S. is doubling down on its reliance on nuclear weapons for generations to come,” he said.
The Union also worried the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad – the only federal repository for transuranic (TRU) nuclear waste in the U.S. – may lack the space to hold the refuse resulting from pit production.
The report estimated Los Alamos would produce about 100,000 gallons of radioactive and hazardous waste, alongside another 180,000 gallons at Savannah River.
Chenoa Scippio, with Indigenous-based environmental group Tewa Women United, said the process of producing the pits and the resulting waste could endanger New Mexicans across the state due to potential contamination of local water supplies and lands around the lab, should an accident occur.
“Increased plutonium pit production poses a great risk to all who surround Los Alamos National Laboratory,” she said. “Our land-based communities continue to be sacrificed in the name of safety.’”
Despite these alleged risks, U.S. Energy Chris Wright said building new pits was necessary for national security.
“The Department will continue its critical mission of protecting our national security and nuclear deterrence in the development, modernization, and stewardship of America’s atomic weapons enterprise, including the peaceful use of nuclear technology and nonproliferation,” Wright wrote in a February memo to agency staff.
“We urgently need to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons systems.”
Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
