DART Launch on Pegasus: Autonomous Space Rendezvous Technology Test - launch sequence from L-1011

Video from the channel MechDesignTV about Pegasus XL, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 2:23. Language: English. Video type: Launch.

The video covers the air launch of a Pegasus rocket carrying DART, a spacecraft to test autonomous rendezvous technology in space, released from an L-1011 aircraft.

Final checks between the launch director and the pilot are heard: acquisition of the launch heading, activation of the fin batteries 45 seconds before release, and testing of the Pegasus flight control systems, up to the release command.

After separating from the aircraft, the first-stage engine ignites. Controllers report nominal pressure and the rocket pitched at 35° and traveling at more than 1,500 mph.