By default, Hawai'i is turning out to be a much more hospitable port for the $900 million floating Sea-Based X-Band Radar than its intended home of Adak, Alaska.

It is now expected to head to Adak in the summer of 2010, the Missile Defense Agency said.

In 2003, Pearl Harbor and Kalaeloa were considered as home port possibilities, along with anchorages in California, Washington state, the Marshall Islands and two sites in Alaska, before Adak was selected.

Since the "giant golfball" arrived here in 2006 from Corpus Christi, Texas, for a temporary stay, it has spent 307 cumulative days in Pearl Harbor, and 791 days out in the Pacific for testing or operations, according to the MDA.

Has it ever pulled into port in Adak?

"No," the Missile Defense Agency said in an e-mailed response to questions from The Advertiser.

Did the SBX, as it is known, remain outside port in Adak?

"It loitered in the vicinity of Adak for two weeks in 2007," MDA said.

The SBX, part of the U.S. ballistic missile defense shield, is a powerful radar with 45,000 radiating elements within the pressurized dome.

The 280-foot-tall radar platform, big enough to accommodate 18 basketball courts, has been used in two ballistic missile defense flight tests, four missions using "targets of opportunity," ballistic missile ground tests, and two operational missions, MDA said.

Officials advertised at least a couple of times that the SBX was headed up to its home port of Adak.

In March 2006, Coast Guard District 17 commander Rear Adm. James Olson sent a letter to the MDA saying operations in the Bering Sea are inherently dangerous, with winds of 80 knots and gusts of more than 120 knots, and sea states in the SBX operations area exceeding 30 feet.

"I urge you to consider safety as your first priority in this hostile environment," Olson said, adding that he believed the SBX was not capable of "maintaining station."

In April 2006 the SBX returned to Pearl after a leak in the ballast piping forced it to abort the voyage.

It returned to Pearl Harbor again in June 2007 from the waters of the Aleutian Islands for $27 million in repairs and upgrades.

The SBX continues to be a work in progress.

Work proceeding now includes the addition of a second crane on the port side, improvements to the starboard crane, upgrades to the galley, and the addition of equipment to facilitate mooring, MDA said.

The current round of work is expected to be done in June.

MDA said the radar did not pull into port in Adak in 2007 because the Port of Adak couldn't support the SBX pierside and the mooring facility was not completed.

Is the Adak facility now completed?

"Yes, except for: the addition of office space in one warehouse, the addition of a fence in an outdoor storage area, and possible upgrade/repair of the existing pier," MDA said.

Asked about the SBX's comings and goings from Pearl after the latest round of work, MDA said, "SBX's possible return to Pearl Harbor for scheduled maintenance in the future cannot be answered at this time."

And how successful has SBX been in missile defense?

"SBX has successfully met every operational test requirement to date," MDA said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.