DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has posted a video online that illustrates how it expects to deliver payloads of up to 100 pounds into orbit for less than $1 million, within 24 hours of call-up, using a conventional jet fighter plane that can take off from ordinary runways. In a news release last week, DARPA said it plans to conduct the first flight test of the system by the end of this year, and the first orbital launch test in the first half of 2016. The airplane would fly to a high altitude — DARPA doesn’t say how high, exactly — and release a low-cost expendable launch vehicle that would carry the payload into orbit.
“We’ve made good progress so far,” said Bradford Tousley, director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office. “We’re moving ahead with rigorous testing of new technologies that we hope one day could enable revolutionary satellite launch systems that provide more affordable, routine and reliable access to space.”The project will be testing a new high-energy monopropellant, which aims to combine fuel and oxidizer into a single liquid. If successful, the monopropellant would make it possible to use simpler designs, and would reduce manufacturing and operation costs compared to traditional designs that use two liquids, such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, DARPA said.
The project, which began in 2011, aims to provide a cheap, fast alternative to today’s satellite technology, which relies on launching via rocket from a limited number of ground facilities. Rocket launches are expensive, require a month or more of preparation time, and risk delays due to weather and flight rules. Richard Branson also has reported plans to deliver satellites using VirginGalactic’s WhiteKnightTwo. In 2012, he said the goal was to carry up to 500 pounds at a price of $10 million. Recently, Branson said he plans to launch a constellation of 2,400 satellites into low-earth orbit to expand broadband communications around the world.
