F-104 again in another version than the one seen here a few days ago - Curt Lewis

Ageing fighter jets to launch satellites into space: Firm plans to fire rockets filled with CubeSats from F-104s

• Aerospace firms are working to develop cheaper methods for launches
• Their approach packs micro-satellites into a rocket aboard a fighter jet
• F-104s would reach altitudes of 100,000 feet before launching the rocket
• It will be available from 2018 for £190,000 ($250,000) for a 5 kg CubeSat

Launching satellites could be get a whole lot easier and cheaper if one Californian firm gets its way.
Rather than using a traditional rocket to take payloads into space, Mountain View-based firm CubeCab wants to fire microsatellites into orbit from to high altitude fighter jets.

By packing tiny CubeSats into a rocket-like canister and launching them at more than 100,000 feet, the space firm claims it will slash the costs of sending lightweight space tech into low Earth orbit.
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A US space firm is planning to slash the cost of sending micro-satellites into space by packing them into a rocket-like canister and launching them from F-104 fighter jets at more than 100,000 feet. Pictured is one of the jets, which were first used by the military in the 1950s

SLASHING THE COST OF SATELLITE LAUNCHES

Firms and research institutions looking to get satellites into orbit need to hitch a ride on a rocket.
But space and weight are extremely limited and lead times can be years.
Private space firms are looking to use fighter jets to deliver small payloads into space at a fraction of the cost.

The concept would see tiny CubeSats packed inside a small, lightweight 3D printed rocket which would be attached to an F-104 fighter jet.

After take-off, the jets would reach altitudes of more than 100,000 feet before the rocket is launched.
Californian firm CubeCab claims the approach would slash the cost to $250,000 (£190,000) and would be able to launch satellites within a month of receiving an order.

The use of CubeSats has exploded in recent years, with researchers and technology firms expanding the areas in which they can be used, in everything from atmospheric research to communications.
But in order to get into orbit, firms and research institutions need to hitch a ride on a rocket - with space and weight extremely limited.

CubeCab plans to shake things up by attaching its satellite payload to a fleet of ageing fighter jets, which first saw military service in the 1950s.

The F-104 jets are operated by Starfighters Aerospace, which launches its fleet from Cape Canaveral in Florida, the home of Nasa's space missions.

Starfighters' fleet is made up of retired F-104 jets from the Italian Air Force, which were taken out of service in 2004.

In order to launch micro satellites, a small rocket containing them is attached to the pylons under the wings - which would have been used to attach bombs mission during military runs.
Once launched from Cape Canaveral, the jets will reach altitudes of more than 100,000 feet, before the rocket launches and the canister of microsatellites is released into orbit.


According to CubeCab, it will be able to launch microsatellites weighing no more than 5 kg (11 lbs) into low Earth orbit for $250,000 (£190,000), opening up commercial satellite delivery to more research institutions and businesses.

'Small rockets are inefficient, making it difficult to make a profit,' the firm explains on its website.

A number of CubeSats have been released from the International Space Station (pictured centre), hitching a ride on resupply missions to the ISS

'We have a suite of technologies to optimise small launches so we can do it profitably. 

'There are other rockets under development, mainly for 20-500 kilogram payloads, which is still too large for the popular CubeSat standard which we address.

'At just 5 kg, ours is the smallest rocket, as measured by payload to LEO, under serious commercial development that we are aware of to date.'

CubeSat use has exploded in recent years, with researchers and tech firms expanding the areas in which they can be used

While the small rockets may still be in the development stage, CubeCab is confident that the service will be available by 2018 and will focus exclusively on 3U CubeSats - which are three of the 10 x 10 x 10 cm units stacked together, resembling a box kite.

Speaking to BBC Future, chief operating officer, Dustin Still said the firm is aiming for fast delivery times of around a month, vastly reducing the timescale of current launches, which can have lead times of years.
Mr Still said: 'A typical mission might be getting an order from a college to launch a cubesat into a specific orbit. 

'Within a few days later we should get the cubesat and load it into a rocket we have set aside for launch in Florida for regular equatorial orbits, or another facility or almost any location for a polar orbit launch.'