Pegasus XL

Carrier jet with Pegasus rocket returning to California, postponing NASA satellite launch

June 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA and Northrop Grumman officials decided Friday to return a Pegasus rocket and its carrier aircraft from Hawaii to California, aborting a trip to Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean for next week’s scheduled launch of a NASA research satellite to conduct additional testing.

Mission Reports

Pegasus rocket, NASA satellite head for launch base in Pacific

June 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

Slung under the belly of a specially-equipped carrier airplane, a Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket took off Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a two-day trek to a remote U.S. military test site in the Pacific Ocean, where crews will ready the air-dropped booster for launch of a NASA research satellite next week.

NASA gears up for brisk launch pace, starting with weather satellite

February 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center tasked with overseeing launches of scientific satellites and interplanetary probes will be responsible later this year for ensuring six major missions safely get into space over a span of a little more than six months, beginning with the launch of NOAA’s new GOES-S weather observatory on an Atlas 5 rocket March 1.

Launch of NASA ionospheric probe delayed to examine rocket issue

November 10, 2017 Stephen Clark

The launch of a NASA satellite to study the behavior of plasma in Earth’s ionosphere has been delayed to early next year, giving engineers time to resolve concerns with the separation system on its air-launched Pegasus XL booster.

Orbital ATK has no plans to phase out seldom-used Pegasus rocket

December 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

The build-up of Orbital ATK’s next air-launched Pegasus XL rocket will start in the coming weeks at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and while its flight in mid-2017 is the last Pegasus launcher on the manifest with a confirmed payload, company officials are confident the unique vehicle has a future beyond next year.

Flock of ‘microsats’ launched to measure winds inside hurricanes

December 15, 2016 Stephen Clark

A winged Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket dropped from the belly of a carrier jet off the east coast of Florida and fired into orbit Thursday with eight research satellites to fly around the tropics and return measurements of winds at the cores of hurricanes.

Carrier jet with Pegasus rocket returning to California, postponing NASA satellite launch

Pegasus rocket, NASA satellite head for launch base in Pacific

NASA gears up for brisk launch pace, starting with weather satellite

Launch of NASA ionospheric probe delayed to examine rocket issue

Orbital ATK has no plans to phase out seldom-used Pegasus rocket

Flock of ‘microsats’ launched to measure winds inside hurricanes

Video: CYGNSS launched by Pegasus rocket

Hydraulic pump glitch scrubs Pegasus launch

Pegasus XL launch timeline with NASA’s CYGNSS microsats

Live coverage: Pegasus rocket successfully fires into orbit