In 2005, a new trajectory that an air-launched rocket could take to put satellites into orbit was tested. Until this time, launch vehicles such as the Pegasus rocket, or rocket planes such as the X-1, X-15, or SpaceShipOne, which were carried under an aircraft pointing in the same direction as the fuselage, would have their engines ignited either just before being air-dropped or a few seconds afterward.
In 2005, a new trajectory that an air-launched rocket could take to put satellites into orbit was tested. Until this time, launch vehicles such as the Pegasus rocket, or rocket planes such as the X-1, X-15, or SpaceShipOne, which were carried under an aircraft pointing in the same direction as the fuselage, would have their engines ignited either just before being air-dropped or a few seconds afterward.
Source: Wikipedia "Aft-crossing trajectory" · CC BY-SA 4.0
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