What about the Launch?
WIRE is scheduled to be launched from the Western Range, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, using a winged Pegasus XL launch vehicle. The Pegasus XL launch vehicle, built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, is a three-stage, solid-propellant booster system carried aloft by a L-1011 jet aircraft and released from the aircraft at an altitude of about 40,000 feet (12,200 meters) and an air-speed of Mach 0.8.
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The three-stage Pegasus launch vehicle is carried aloft by OSC's L-1011 “Stargazer” aircraft to approximately 40,000 feet over open ocean. It is then released and free-falls for five seconds before igniting its first stage rocket motor. |
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The Pegasus XL generates over 163,000 foot-pounds of thrust in its first stage. With this thrust, and the aerodynamic lift generated by its delta wing, the small rocket achieves orbit hundreds of miles above the Earth in approximately ten minutes. |
The 250-kilogram (550 pound) WIRE observatory will then be inserted into an orbit with an altitude of 540 kilometers (336 miles) above the Earth and inclined 97.55 degrees to the equator. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and a NASA-developed Transportable Orbital Tracking Station (TOTS) placed at Poker Flat, Alaska, will serve as the primary ground stations.
Last Updated: 12/2/98
