EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — A 65-foot, 72,000-pound booster rocket mockup exits the cargo bay of a C-17 Globemaster III July 26. The airdrop was the final test in Phase 2B of the Falcon Small Launch Vehicle program, a joint venture between the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency and the Air Force to develop a more flexible, low-cost method of launching a satellite into low earth orbit. The mockup is the longest and heaviest single object ever dropped from a C-17. (Air Force photo by Steve Zapka)