A winged, solid-fueled launch vehicle carried aloft under a modified aircraft and air-launched at altitude, developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation as the first privately developed orbital launch vehicle. It remains a specialist for small, dedicated payloads that need launch flexibility rather than the lowest possible cost.
Facts
Vehicle ClassAir-launched light-lift solid-fuel launch vehicle 1 ManufacturerOrbital Sciences Corporation (now Northrop Grumman) 1 First Flight Date StatusOperational but rarely flown in the 2020s, priced out of the market by cheaper rideshare options on larger rockets. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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