Then, in 2022, Stratolaunch expects the first flight of its "new medium-class
air-launch vehicle" which it calls Medium Launch Vehicle.
Under a contract with the US Air Force Research Lab, the tests were all accomplished over a three-week period at the company's tactical propulsion center of excellence at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, West Virginia, validating motor performance at both the hot and cold temperature extremes required by
air-launch tactical missiles and boosters.
The goal was to build a four or five engine variant of the Falcon rocket designed for
air-launch. However, work between the companies ended in 2012, after SpaceX determined that too many modifications were required.
Once aloft, the rocket would drop and fire its engines and "
air-launch" to orbit.
MARYLAND (CyHAN)- NASA Dryden Flight Research Center is developing a novel space access, rocket launching technique called the Towed Glider
Air-Launch Concept.
Pegasus and its derivatives are compatible with
air-launch deployment from three aircraft types (L-1011, B-52, C-17) and have been launched from eight ranges in the U.S.
to provide six RL10C-1 production engines, with an option to provide an additional six RL10C-1 production engines at a later date, for the third stage of a revolutionary commercial
air-launch system.
The
air-launch was captured by side and forward looking high speed cameras and the separation was exactly as per the simulation.
Its patented
air-launch system, in which the rocket is launched from beneath Orbital's "Stargazer" L-1011 carrier aircraft over the ocean, reduces cost and provides customers with unparalleled flexibility to operate from virtually anywhere on Earth with minimal ground support requirements.