NOTS-EV-1 Pilot
Project Pilot ( or unofficially NOTSNIK for NOTS and Sputnik ) is the name of the late 1950s under the strictest secrecy from the Naval Ordnance Test Station ( NOTS ) of the United States Navy developed satellite launch rocket that was launched from an airplane and the designation NOTS - EV-1 was a pilot. The existence of this program came only in the 1990s, to the public.
Pilot was driven by solid rocket motors five-stage rocket and the first orbital rocket that was launched from an airplane. Designed for extreme simplicity, possessed pilot no moving parts. The engines of the first two stages based on the Subroc anti- submarine rocket. A total of four of the first and second stage HOTROC rocket engines developed a thrust of 126.4 kN respectively and had a burn time of 4.86 s The third stage ABL X -241 rocket engine developed a thrust of 12.1 kN and 35 seconds firing time. In the fourth stage, a NOTS -100 engine with 5.14 kN of thrust and burning time 5.7 s was installed. The fifth stage, which was integrated into the payload, had a NOTS engine with 765 N thrust and burning time 1 s. The payload of the rocket was only 1.05 kg.
The aim of this rocket was to bring tiny surveillance satellites unnoticed by the Soviet Union in the orbit.
Within just two months, four test versions from the floor and six complete rockets were launched from the aircraft. All ten start attempts failed, however, failed and led to the discontinuation of the program. Only the first and third start of the orbital version, there are indications that the payload could have reached orbit, but this is not conclusive to prove.
After the false start was also developed by the Naval Ordnance Test Station, the improved Caleb rocket, but this program was abandoned after a few suborbital test flights before orbital launches were attempted. The concept of starting from an airplane was only taken up in the 1990s with the Pegasus rocket again.
Versions
Dimensions
- Length - 4.38 m
- Diameter - 0.762 m
- Wingspan - 1.65 m
- Weight - 950 kg
- High altitude - 2400 km
Start list
This is a complete start list of pilot rocket.
¹ Gross Weight = ( Satellite Adapter, enclosure etc. )
² track on which the payload of the advanced level should be suspended.