Small satellites could hitch rides to space on an F-15 fighter jet by next year, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the agency responsible for developing new technologies for the U.S. military.Gee whiz, eh? Except, well..
DARPA's so-called Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) program is an ambitious project that aims to launch small satellites more quickly, and reduce the cost of lofting them into orbit.
The ASM-135 ASAT is an air-launched anti-satellite multistage missile that was developed by Ling-Temco-Vought's LTV Aerospace division. The ASM-135 was carried exclusively by the United States Air Force's F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft.Yes, there's a difference between launching something up that high and launching it into orbit. You can see that most dramatically by comparing the sizes of the Redstone and Atlas boosters from Project Mercury.
Still, the concept and testing of launching stuff into space by using an aircraft as a reusable first stage is a very old one.
4 comments:
What goes around comes back around sooner or later...
Yep, whether it's going to the equator to get some spin or launching from altitude, SSTO is one of the magic unicorns that could change the way we do orbital economics....
Spaceship One, N312KF, uses the same idea.
And SS1 is a ripoff of the X-15.
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