DARPA cancels ALASA small launch vehicle
Posted: Sun, Dec 6, 2015, 9:59 AM ET (1459 GMT)
DARPA has scrapped plans to launch small satellites from a fighter jet. The Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) program, under a contract with Boeing, planned to develop a rocket deployed from an F-15 for launching small satellites. The rocket used a unique propellant, a mixture of nitrous oxide and acetylene, but that propellant exploded in ground tests earlier this year, raising questions about its safety. DARPA has now dropped plans to perform up to a dozen launches of the ALASA vehicle, and will instead continue tests of the propellant and other technologies.
DARPA has scrapped plans to launch small satellites from a fighter jet. The Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) program, under a contract with Boeing, planned to develop a rocket deployed from an F-15 for launching small satellites. The rocket used a unique propellant, a mixture of nitrous oxide and acetylene, but that propellant exploded in ground tests earlier this year, raising questions about its safety. DARPA has now dropped plans to perform up to a dozen launches of the ALASA vehicle, and will instead continue tests of the propellant and other technologies.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Thales and Airbus to build next-generation radar imaging satellites
Posted: Sat, Jun 13 10:02 AM ET (1402 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, June 15
China's Lijian-1 rocket sends 8 satellites into orbit
CGTN — 5:39 am ET (0939 GMT) Lithuania to host European Space Education Resource Office
LRT — 5:39 am ET (0939 GMT) Russia’s satellite moves push Europe to rethink space defense
TVP World — 5:38 am ET (0938 GMT) SpaceX to launch rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Monday morning
KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo, CA — 5:36 am ET (0936 GMT) Emboldened by SpaceX, Investors Are Piling Into All Things Space
Wall Street Journal — 5:33 am ET (0933 GMT) |
