NASA WFF Logo, NASA Wallops Flight Facility
MPL Capability Catalog

Mission Planning Lab

Pegasus

Pegasus

Description

The three-stage Pegasus is capable of deploying small satellites weighing up to 1,000 pounds into low-Earth orbit. Pegasus is carried aloft to approximately 40,000 feet over open ocean, where it is released and then free-falls in a horizontal position for five seconds before igniting its first stage rocket motor. With the aerodynamic lift generated by its unique delta-shaped wing, Pegasus typically delivers satellites into orbit in a little over 10 minutes.

Video

The video is a Satellite Tool Kit (STK) representation of a Pegasus launched from the Wallops Flight Facility. Shown is the launch with radar and telemetry tracking, the trajectory of the vehicle, and satellite coverage. The time step of the video is 3.0 seconds.

WFF launch: Pegasus_elv.avi (68.3 Mb).

Screenshots

Listed below are various screenshots from the STK scenario of this Pegasus launch.

Beginning Trajectory Coverage Middle Trajectory View End Trajectory View Model 2d Ground View

Downloads

The AGI Viewer is required in order to view a VDF file type. Using this viewer allows for user interactivity (zoom, pan and adjusting time step). Download the free AGI Viewer at www.stk.com (68.5 Mb).

VDF of WFF launch: w_pegasus.vdf (335 kb).

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