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Orbital Test Launches Target

April 13, 2005 :: News

The Orbital Sciences Corporation has successfully test launched a new Medium Range Target (MRT) vehicle for the Missile Defense Agency. The test vehicle is the first of a family of flexible targets being developed for MDA that can be launched conventionally from ground sites, air-launched from a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft, or sea-launched from the deck of a retired helicopter carrier.
        This particular test flight originated some 900 miles due west of Kauai, Hawaii. The target was tested in the air-launch mode, being dropped by parachute from a C-17 aircraft before its engines were ignited and it flew a normal ballistic trajectory. The air-launched test, reportedly the first of its kind for a target missile, was designed to replicate trajectories that a hostile state might use in an actual attack; the purpose, therefore, is more realistic testing.  (Article)

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