Darpa Revisits Air Launch With Focus On Cost

Moore's Law may ensure small satellites will be increasingly capable, but the rule of thumb has not reduced the size and cost of the vehicles available to launch such miniaturized spacecraft into orbit. So the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has awarded Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Virgin Galactic contracts to design air-launch systems that can place sub-100-lb. payloads into low Earth orbit for $1 million, including range costs ...