Ukraine, The Space Power
Kyiv is launching rockets from the ground & the air
Ukraine has been lobbing rockets into space.
The launches, at least two since February 2022, could lead to wider space capabilities, a Ukrainian lawmaker revealed to RBC-Ukraine. At least twice since Russia widened its war on Ukraine in February 2022, the intelligence directorate has launched rockets as high as 200 km. Space begins at 100 km.
One launch took place in mid-air. A transport plane carried the rocket to an altitude of 8 km before releasing it.
That’s a new capability for Ukraine but it’s not a new concept. For a period of time beginning in the late 1980s, the Dnipro-based Yuzhnoye State Design Office developed multi-stage space launch vehicles that could be launched by military aircraft.
Launching a rocket from an airplane in mid-air reduces the thrust a rocket must produce to reach the edge of the atmosphere.
Revived for use in the current war, the mid-air rocket launches could—along with the ground launches—help transform Ukraine into a regional space power.
Read more at Euromaidan Press.