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[–] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I mostly agree. It's not an efficient way to get to orbit.

It was an early attempt at reusable launch vehicles, it was a good idea, that turned out to be overcomplicated. The Pegasus 100% worked though, it went to orbit, so it's not a question of "could it work someday", it did work, it was just more expensive than the standard methods.

Again, I'm not saying this is an avenue worth exploring, I'm just saying that it's incorrect to call it impossible.

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[–] BitUnWise@programming.dev 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

Wouldn't the main benefit to air launch be the elevation gain? Flight through wings is way more efficient than just raw thrust

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[–] anton@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 point 2 months ago

I think the main advantage of air launch is there is less air in the way.
If you didn't have any air resistance you could go faster earlier and reach orbit faster. This means less fuel wasted on fighting gravity, but because we have an atmosphere, there is a speed limit.