L-1011 Stargazer - three-stage Pegasus launch vehicle - Pegasus

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.—The L-1011 Stargazer with its Pegasus space launch vehicle uses the Western Range to launch satellites into a low earth orbit. The three-stage Pegasus launch vehicle is carried aloft by the company-owned L-1011 aircraft to a point approximately 40,000 feet over open ocean areas, 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 delta wing, the small rocket achieves orbit hundreds of miles above the Earth in approximately ten minutes. (Courtesy photo)