SATELLITE LAUNCHING FROM AIRCRAFT

Abstract

Development of a complete aircraft-launched satellite-vehicle system and manufacturing and launching vehicles with payloads for Operation Argus was accomplished within 6 months. This included the development of three new rocket motors, high altitude igniters, and IR-sensing horizon trigger, and special electronic timers. The total structural weight of this vehicle was limited to 5% of the over-all total vehicle weight. The technique of safely launching satellite vehicles from aircraft at high altitudes in a loft maneuver was successfully demonstrated. A world-wide network of highly successful portable microlock ground receiver stations was built, deployed, and used to obtain valuable IGY and Explorer IV data. A program for computing satellite vehicle performance, missile tolerances, and ephemerides for satellites from doppler data was developed and applied to the data received from Explorer IV. A six-degrees-of-freedom program study was completed for determination of orbital trajectories concurrently with stability studies.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 25, 1960
Accession Number
AD0360458

Entities

Organizations

  • Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Assembly
  • Frequency
  • High Altitude
  • Instrumentation
  • Manufacturing
  • Modulators
  • Nose Cones
  • Orbits
  • Radiation
  • Radiation Measuring Instruments
  • Rocket Engines
  • Rockets
  • Scintillation Counters
  • Telemetry Equipment

Readers

  • Aerospace Test and Evaluation
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  • Aviation Science / Aeronautics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems
  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris
  • Space - Satellites