TacRL-2

The TacRL-2, or Tactically Responsive Launch 2, is a mission for the US Space Force that will take an unknown satellite to orbit.

The Tactically Responsive Launch program is designed to give the US government a somewhat rapid ability to respond to emergency military needs within a few weeks.

Northrop Grumman was awarded the mission in July 2020 but was not told what the launch date was until a few weeks before the flight. This was done on purpose to test Northrop Grumman’s and Vandenberg Space Force Base’s ability to rapidly assemble the rocket, attach it to the plane, and launch it.

The public was not informed of the mission until two days prior to launch.

Photo credit: Supercluster

Pegasus

Meet Pegasus, a small satellite rocket capable of taking up to 443 kg to a low Earth orbit.

Now owned by Northrop Grumman but originally developed by the Orbital Sciences Corporation, Pegasus flew for the first time on April 5th, 1990 and has since performed more than 40 missions.

Unlike most rockets, Pegasus is not launched from the ground but is flown to 12 km altitude by an aircraft named Stargazer and then dropped from underneath the plane’s wing.

Five seconds after it’s dropped, Pegasus ignites its first stage, an Orion 50S solid rocket motor. The first stage contains a wing and tail for aerodynamic control, steering, and lift.

The first stage brings Pegasus up to 61 km before the second stage, an Orion 50 solid rocket booster, fires to bring the rocket’s apogee to the right altitude for the mission.

Pegasus then coasts up to that point so its third stage solid rocket motor can burn to bring the orbits perigee up to the correct mission-needed altitude.

Stargazer

Pegasus’s sibling: Stargazer. This plane is a heavily modified Lockheed, triple engine L-1011 that was built in 1974.

It was in service to Air Canada from March 1974 to May 1992 when it was bought by Orbital Science for conversion into a rocket launch plane for Pegasus.

During launches, Stargazer carries a small team of pilots, engineers, and technicians who look over the rocket and systems before launch.

After dropping Pegasus from underneath its wing, Stargazer’s pilots perform an evasive maneuver to ensure good spacing between the plane and the rocket before Pegasus ignites its first stage.

With Stargazer, Pegasus can be launched from any location in the world that has a long enough runway for the plane and adequate security. It has been used to launch missions from California, Florida, and Virginia in the United States as well as Gando Air Base, Spain and Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Photo: Pegasus under Stargazer’s wing. Credit: Northrop Grumman

The waters off the coast of southern California are used by air-launched rockets, with their carrier planes taking off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Mojave Air and Space Port, or Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Photo credit: Google