"World's First Privately Developed Space Launch Vehicle"
Quote from: jacqmans on 04/06/2015 02:15 pm"World's First Privately Developed Space Launch Vehicle"Ahhhh....Conestoga I?
Quote from: mkent on 04/06/2015 04:40 pmQuote from: jacqmans on 04/06/2015 02:15 pm"World's First Privately Developed Space Launch Vehicle"Ahhhh....Conestoga I?It was never fully developed and never made it to space.
It didn't reach orbit, but it did reach space.
Sounding rockets are not Space Launch Vehicles (which means orbital).
Quote from: mkent on 04/06/2015 05:00 pmIt didn't reach orbit, but it did reach space.a meaningless stunt. See update to post.
.@OrbitalATK's Antonio Elias, #Pegasus chief engineer/designer - then (1990) & now on the rocket's 25th Anniversary
I wouldn't call it a meaningless stunt. To my knowledge, it was the first privately developed launch vehicle to reach space.
Again, it wasn't privately developed, It used a motor (Minuteman stage II) developed by the USG. Financing may have been private. And so what, they just used a different source of money to fly something that already existed.
• World's first privately developed space launch vehicle.• Maiden 1990 mission marked the first all-new, unmanned space launch vehicle developed in the U.S. in more than 20 years.• First winged vehicle to accelerate to eight times the speed of sound.• First air-launched rocket to place satellites into orbit, using its carrier aircraft as an "air breathing reusable first stage."
Quote from: Jim on 04/07/2015 01:46 amAgain, it wasn't privately developed, It used a motor (Minuteman stage II) developed by the USG. Financing may have been private. And so what, they just used a different source of money to fly something that already existed.While I agree with you, the claim is straight from OrbATK.Quote• World's first privately developed space launch vehicle.• Maiden 1990 mission marked the first all-new, unmanned space launch vehicle developed in the U.S. in more than 20 years.• First winged vehicle to accelerate to eight times the speed of sound.• First air-launched rocket to place satellites into orbit, using its carrier aircraft as an "air breathing reusable first stage."https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-vehicles/pegasus/docs/2B2_Pegasus.pdfI think it's maybe being a little pedantic to say the vehicle wasn't privately developed because the engine was ex-military. It's not like launch vehicles are 100% engine.
Still, they really need to post the picture that Antonio posted a while back of his Major Kong impersonation while riding the first Pegasus.
Orbital ATK @OrbitalATK@OrbtialATK L1011 Stargazer airplane is undergoing a new look to support upcoming #Pegasus launches in 2016 and 2017