An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

C-17 performs final drop in Falcon SLV test phase

  • Published
  • By Christopher Ball
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Sometimes, test programs have added benefits on top of the intended goal, as was the case when testers here completed the third and final test in phase 2B of the Falcon Small Launch Vehicle program July 26.

The Falcon SLV program is a joint effort between the Air Force, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Airlaunch LLC and other private firms to explore a less expensive and more flexible method of launching a 1,000-pound payload, specifically a satellite, into low earth orbit, but it also helped expand the capabilities of the C-17 Globemaster III.

The final test was the airdrop of a 65-foot, 72,000-pound booster rocket mockup at 32,000 feet, and was performed by a crew of professionals from the 418th Flight Test Squadron, AirLaunch and the Boeing Corporation on board an operational C-17 from McChord Air Force Base, Wash. The mockup, a test vehicle built by Airlaunch LLC for the Falcon Small Launch Vehicle program, is the longest and heaviest single object ever dropped from a C-17.

Chris Webber, an airdrop test engineer, 773rd Test Squadron, and the test project engineer for Falcon SLV, said the program has given him some insight into areas within the C-17's current operational capability that the aircraft has the performance capability to exceed its current flight manual limitations.

"We can drop heavier items, we can drop them successfully from higher altitudes," Mr. Webber said. "Aside from the space business, if the operational world such as Air Mobility Command and the Army -- which are usually the people we're doing airdrop to -- came up with some requirements for higher altitude or heavier weight cargo to be airdropped to them, we could say "we've done similar work on the C-17, we know it's got the capability to deliver more than it's current operational limitations." Mr. Webber said the Air Force Flight Test Center could confidently approach a test program to look at equipment or tactics that they might want to see as expansions of their capability.

While the tests were successful, the program wasn't without its challenges.

"Other programs in the past which have dropped rockets have put them on flat pallets similar to other types of heavy equipment airdrop," said Mr. Webber. "For the sake of simplicity -- less hardware dropped out of the aircraft -- this project was not using that technical approach."

Instead, a roller system was designed which stays in the aircraft.

"That way you've got a stabilization parachute and you've got a rocket body. You don't have this pallet system that then has to be staged and separated safely from the rocket after it's been dropped," said Mr. Webber. "That's a technically complex thing to achieve. This is intended to be a low-cost way of putting satellites in orbit, and if you have a complex deployment system, that works against your low-cost goal."

Working at high altitude also posed some challenges to the crew.

"At 32,000 feet, the aircraft is at a greatly reduced atmospheric pressure than at ground level," said Lt. Col. Dan Fritz, 418th Flight Test Squadron Operations Officer and Falcon SLV project test pilot.

The physiological effects of that are varied, from loss of consciousness to nitrogen and other gases in the bloodstream causing the 'bends,' a physiological problem also seen in divers.

"We breathed 100-percent oxygen before the flight to make sure we didn't have any ill effects from other gases in our bloodstreams as we went to high altitude," Colonel Fritz said.

With the challenges overcome, the crew was able to perform the tests successfully, creating the possibility of future Falcon SLV testing, and expanding the capabilities of the C-17.

"That's one of the things we do at Edwards, is pushing the limit of aircraft," Colonel Fritz said. "The chance to be involved with that, just like in all flight test here, is very exciting. It's very gratifying to know that we're part of giving more capability to the folks that fight the wars overseas."