Participants in Freighters World Conference briefed on Air Launch Project

Director General of the Polyot Air Company and President of the Air Launch Aerospace Corporation Anatoly Karpov on Monday addressed the 1st Freighters World Conference with the report on launching satellites from the AN-124-100 aircraft, the press- service of the Polyot Company told Interfax-Military News Agency on Monday.

The participants in the conference now underway in Luxembourg were briefed on the development of the new aerospace system designated as the Air Launch to cut costs of space launchings and ensure their environmental safety.

The Air Launch project comprises four segments, these are the Polyot two-stage sustainer, the satellite, the AN-124 aircraft and the ground flight control center. Karpov said the Gromov flight research institute’s airfield in the vicinity of Moscow had been chosen as the main one. A network of interim airfields is to be used, too. The aerospace system is to be launched from over the World Ocean.

Experts believe it will be most difficult to launch the 100-ton carrier rocket from the aircraft. The rocket will be pushed pneumatically to continue its flight in a standard mode after its engine kicks off. The Air Launch system will enable experts to launch light satellites of all types, with their weight mounting up to 3 tons.

The project is now being carried out under the auspices of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency; among the participants in the project are the Air Launch Aerospace Enterprise, Energy Korolyov Rocket and Space Enterprise, Antonov Science and Production Company and Pilyugin Automatic Machinery-building Center. The development of the project began in 1998. The Air Launch Corporation was set up in 1999.

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