The ALASA rocket will be 24 feet long and will be carried aloft by an unmodified F-15E Strike Eagle carrier aircraft. Once the F-15E reaches 39,000 feet, ALASA will separate and proceed to orbit. ALASA’s first flight is scheduled for later in 2015.

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However, a smaller version of ALASA called SALVO (Small Air Launch Vehicle to Orbit) has reportedly already been tested using the same F-15E carrier aircraft. SALVO has been described as an “icebreaker” for ALASA, meaning that the lessons DARPA learns from the smaller SALVO launch vehicle can be applied directly to the ALASA program.

Other Air Launch Systems

Another company joining the air launch game is Generation Orbit Launch Services. They are preparing to offer air launch services for small satellites using a modified Gulfstream G-III business jet carrier aircraft, and flew a successful test flight last year.

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Finally, the military, the CIA, or the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) are speculated to have operated one or more highly classified, high speed mothership(s) out of the shadowy base at Groom Lake, Nevada, better known as Area 51. Such a carrier aircraft could carry a smaller and even faster spaceplane to a high altitude before separation. One of these dark motherships may have resembled, or could have evolved from, the North American XB-70 Valkyrie bomber. Classified programs with names like Blackstar, Brilliant Buzzard, Copper Coast and Science Dawn have all supposedly referenced similar concepts.

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Analysts have speculated that one potential use for the massive new hangar under construction at the south end of the runway at Area 51 is to shelter some sort of mothership-parasite configuration. While we have no confirmation that any such air launched military space program existed or achieved operational capability, the capabilities that such a system could offer would certainly be attractive to any military strategist.

Given that satellites are vulnerable to anti-satellite missiles and other space-based threats, the ability to quickly and cheaply replace them in a time of crisis would be a very good military strategy. Given the military’s reliance on satellites for navigation, communication, weapons guidance and a host of other functions, it is plausible that an air launch system could have been designed to rapidly insert critical replacement satellites following the loss of another spacecraft.

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Onward and Upward

Minimal launch infrastructure, mobility, reusability and lower cost per launch are all very compelling reasons why air launching rockets seems like a really smart way to develop our infrastructure in space. As demand for space access continues to grow, especially for lightweight payloads, it is no surprise that several air launch systems are likely to reach operational maturity in the coming years.

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However, just like launching from the ground, air launched access to space is an incredibly risky business and certainly not without peril. Moreover, developing these motherships are incredibly expensive and may ultimately prove to be a money-losing endeavor. But as space becomes increasingly commercialized, we may soon be witnessing an air launched renaissance. And for those of us who love both airplanes and rockets, what could be better than a combination of the two?

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Photo credit: Top shot concept image via Stratolaunch, Balls 8 with X-15 and T-38A - USAF/Wikicommons, Stargazer taxiing at Vandenberg AFB - NASA/Randy Beaudoin/Wikicommons, White Knight in flight - D Ramey Logan/Wikicommons, WhiteKnightTwo in flight - Craigboy/Wikicommons, Stratolaunch concept artwork - JR Schumacher/Wikicommons, F-15 launching ASAT - Paul E. Reynolds/USAF/Wikicommons, Orbital Stargazer and Pegasus rocket separation - NASA/Wikicommons

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