Northrop Grumman Pegasus

Pegasus was an air-launched, small-lift launch vehicle developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation and later built and launched by Northrop Grumman, and it was the world first privately developed orbital launch vehicle. It could carry payloads of up to 443 kilograms (977 lb) into low Earth orbit, first flew in 1990 and last flew before its retirement in 2026, and it mostly launched scientific satellites for NASA. The rocket had three solid-propellant stages and an optional monopropellant fourth stage. It was released from a carrier aircraft at about 40,000 feet over open ocean, first the NASA-owned B-52 Stratofortress named Balls 8 and from 1994 a modified L-1011 TriStar named Stargazer, and it fell for five seconds before igniting its first stage. A team led by Antonio Elias designed it, with wing and fin structures by Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites, and the team received the 1991 National Medal of Technology. The Pegasus XL, introduced in 1994, lengthened the stages for more payload.