DOD wants smart jets to launch satellites into orbit

The agency’s Airborne Launch Assist Space Access program would develop a way for subsonic airliners, which would takeoff from a conventional runway, to reach a specific destination in the sky and then fire a satellite on a desired trajectory.

 

The approach would have clear benefits; namely, it would eliminate the need to plan and prepare a fixed launch site, which requires months of forethought and is vulnerable to postponement because of weather, natural disasters or even attacks from adversaries. The concept is a key component of the Defense Department's plan for deep space warfare in the future, according to the blog.