Orbital Sciences Corporation

[Christopher Davis]

[crypto relevance is basically nil; apologies]
RH> == Robert Hettinga <rah at shipwright.com>

 RH> Oddly enough, they're discussing the use of a modified version of
 RH> Orbital Sciences' Pegasus launcher.  It currently uses a B-52 to
 RH> carry the rocket to ~40K ft., and then lets it go on up to LEO.
 RH> However, there's no reason they can't use a 747 as the "first
 RH> stage". 747's are newer and cheaper and easier to maintain, and the
 RH> result would be private enterprise from the ground up.

I believe OSC is now ready to use (if they haven't started already) their
modified L-1011 TriStar launch platform ("Stargazer").

I'm not sure the 747 would be as easily modified, based on the design of
the wing box and landing gear.  Similar issues would probably apply to the
McDD DC-10/MD-11.