The Space Technology 5 mission, which is expected to shake down microsatellite technologies for future missions to track space weather, has just a 20 percent chance of rocketing spaceward from an air-based mothership due to poor weather conditions expected for its March 14 launch target. ...
NASA’s $130 million ST5 mission, part of the agency’s New Millennium Program to develop new technologies, is currently set to launch three small microsatellites – each the size of a large cake (or 13-inch television set) and weighing 55 pounds (25 kilograms) – into orbit atop an Orbital Sciences’ built Pegasus XL rocket.
An L-1011 Stargazer aircraft will haul the Pegasus booster to an altitude of about 39,000 feet (11,887 meters) before dropping the rocket into launch position at about 9:02 a.m. EST (1402 GMT). The space shot has a 77-minute launch window, Dovale said.
The microsatellites that are to be launched will be doing some important research, but the launch method for the rocket is so different from the traditional Roman-candle ride into space that it is exceptionally cool.
I wish NASA good luck on the launch.
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