Air launch to orbit

thumb|Space Shuttle Discovery|Space Shuttle Discovery

air-launched rocket

LauncherOne was a two-stage orbital launch vehicle developed and flown by Virgin Orbit that had operational flights from 2021 to 2023, after being in development from 2007 to 2020. It was an air-launched rocket, designed to carry smallsat payloads of up to into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), following air launch from a carrier aircraft at high altitude. The rocket was carried to the upper atmosphere on a modified Boeing 747-400, named Cosmic Girl, and released over ocean. Initial work on the program was done by Virgin Galactic, another Virgin Group subsidiary, before a separate entity — Virgin O

company

American transport aircraft

planned suborbital, air-launched spaceplane

U.S. expendable launch system

thumb|250px|Orbital Sciences Corporation|Orbital's Stargazer launches Pegasus carrying the three [[Space Technology 5 satellites in the skies of California, 2006.]] Air-launch-to-orbit (ALTO) is the method of launching smaller rockets at altitude from a heavier conventional horizontal-takeoff aircraft, to carry satellites to low Earth orbit. It is a follow-on development of air launches of experimental aircraft that began in the late 1940s. This method, when employed for orbital payload insertion, presents significant advantages over conventional vertical rocket launches, particularly because

Family of rocket space launchers

Cancelled U.S. defense technology