US Air Force chiefs are taking over Bermuda's NASA tracking station -- for at least three months.

The Cooper's Island nerve centre, which was due to close on Wednesday, will now stay open until at least the end of June.

The Air Force wants to use the Bermuda station to monitor a satellite launch from Cape Canaveral on June 15.

They are sending engineers to the Island to reassemble the station's giant radar.

And they even shipped a telemetry system to Bermuda last week -- only for it to be delayed in the Hamilton Docks dispute on Monday.

The hi-tech unit, from Albuquerque, finally arrived in a container on Wednesday.

The move by Air Force chiefs represents another dramatic reprieve for the NASA station, which has monitored every space launch since 1961.

Two senior Air Force officers at Colorado Springs are still trying to persuade the US military to take over the NASA station full-time.

The military chiefs first tried to persuade top Air Force commanders that the St. David's station was vital for their hi-tech communications last July.

Under their plan, the tracking station would have been used to monitor Air Force satellites.

But Air Force spokesman Capt. Lewonnie Belcher said the NASA station would not be saved on a long-term basis.

She added: "We concur with NASA's decision to close the site.'' Station manager Bill Way added last night: "The station will definitely close. But we just don't know when right now.'' He said 90 percent of the station's operations had been shut down in three shutdown phases.

NASA put the station on a countdown to close last year, after developing new technology which allows space shuttles to be monitored from satellites in space.

The base lost key parts of its operation in separate shutdowns in April, September and yesterday.

But the station will still be used by space shuttle astronauts for air-to-ground voice data.

It is also an emergency landing site for shuttles.

Mr. Way said: "We are still running at ten percent and that's going to be the case for the foreseeable future.'' He added that some former station staff were now being flown back to Bermuda -- in preparation for the Air Force launch in June.