Prestwick spaceport?

[RizzoTheRat]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headline...

So it is this likely?

Orbital Access's proposed small satellite launch system looks perfectly feasible being a similar system to Pegasus, and are tied in with Reaction Engines for their second generation launcher, who seem to have been rumbling on for years. Is it all just another paper exercise to soak up government grants or will it ever make it to orbit?

[RizzoTheRat]

Earth rotation speeds:
462 m/s in Guiana
407 m/s at Kennedy space centre
262 m/s in Prestwick

So they'd need 200m/s (nearly 450mph) more dV than an ESA launch. I assume they'd fly a bit further south to launch but it's still not ideal is it.

Plus as said you then end up in a fairly inclined plane.

[RizzoTheRat]

towser44 said:

Watching the video, the 'rockets or space craft' go up underneath a normal plane and are then released at 40,000 feet, so location doesn't matter does it?

Potentially not as they could fly to the equator and launch from there, but that's a long flight, and presumably they need some sort of permission from whoever's airspace they're in to launch the rocket.

Eric Mc said:

That type of launch, although it does confer some advantages, means that you are limited to very small payloads.

As a percentage of total launches each year, air launches make up a tiny percentage. Indeed, you can go for years without one.

43 Pegasus launches in 17 years, with a maximum payload of a bit under half a tonne, so under 19 tonnes total....or slightly more than 2 Arianne 5 payloads. $55M launch cost for Pegasus vs $200M for Ariane, so Ariane does around 20 times the payload for 4 times the cost? I'm really shocked at how expensive Pegasus is in that case.

Are there any other air launched systems similar to Pegasus?

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Tuesday 21st February 12:07