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Orbital ATK has been building and launching the Pegasus XL (https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-vehicles/pegasus/ https://www.orbitalatk.com/
by sargun 10y ago
Orbital ATK has been building and launching the Pegasus XL (https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-vehicles/pegasus/ https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-vehic...) for a bit now. It is an extremely cheap platform that is launched from an airplane.
What's neat is the User Manual is available online: https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-vehicles/pegasus/docs/Pegasus_UsersGuide.pdf https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-vehic... [pdf]
- greglindahl 10y agoExtremely cheap? Initially it was $6mm, now it costs almost as much as a Falcon 9 launch. Part of that is due to its extremely low launch rate -- this was the first launch since 2013 -- but still.
- sargun 10y agoif Orbital launched as much as SpaceX, the Pegasus cost before margin could be 20% of what it is today.
- greglindahl 10y agoWith Stratolaunch buying a bunch of Pegasus XL rockets, we'll know in a couple of years.
- nickik 10y agoHow is it extremely cheap? It can almost not compete now and it has very little option of re-usability. Everybody else is pushing for reusable systems, SpaceX is almost there. If they could get a extremely high lunch rate the might be able to do it at a good price, but that will be hard.