Omelek Island

It is controlled by the United States military under a long-term lease (along with ten other islands in the atoll) and is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site.

Geologically, it is composed of reef-rock, as are the other islands in the atoll, which is created by the accumulation of marine organism remnants (corals, Mollusca, etc.).

Sand and weeds comprise the remainder of the terrain, the loose nature of which caused issues for SpaceX employees transporting material when Omelek was used for Falcon 1 launches.

[2] Omelek has long been used by the United States for small research rocket launches due to its relative isolation in the South Pacific.

[citation needed] During the time of the Falcon 1 launches, Elon Musk visited Omelek frequently enough that he would recall to author Eric Berger that, “I remember that island like the back of my hand,” but he regretted not having “…chilled out just slightly more.