Rockoon
From SpaceWiki
A rockoon is a space vehicle that, as the name suggests, derives from a combination of the words "rocket" and "balloon". The vehicle consists of a rocket lifted to some altitude above ground level by a balloon or system of balloons. When the rockoon system reaches a target altitude, the rocket separates from the balloon and ignites. This allows the rocket to achieve a higher altitude, as the rocket does not have to move under power through the lower and thicker layers of the atmosphere.
While some may assume that the gains from this technique are minimal, a rocket launched from a high-altitude balloon can generally achieve a altitude above its launch position that is three to five times greater than its maximum altitude when launched from ground level (in addition to the initial launch altitude). The original concept was developed by Cmdr. Lee Lewis, Cmdr. G. Halvorson, S. F. Singer, and James A. Van Allen during the Aerobee rocket firing cruise of the U.S.S. Norton Sound on March 1, 1949.
Early Atmospheric Research
TIME magazine reported in 1959: "Van Allen's 'Rockoons' could not be fired in Iowa for fear that the spent rockets would strike an Iowan or his house." So Van Allen convinced the U.S. Coast Guard to let him fire his rockoons from the icebreaker USCGC Eastwind (WAGB-279) that was bound for Greenland. "The first balloon rose properly to 70,000 ft., but the rocket hanging under it did not fire. The second Rockoon behaved in the same maddening way. On the theory that extreme cold at high altitude might have stopped the clockwork supposed to ignite the rockets, Van Allen heated cans of orange juice, snuggled them into the third Rockoon's gondola, and wrapped the whole business in insulation. The rocket fired."
The Office of Naval Research used the Loki rocket in some of its Rockoon launches, lofting the Loki to high altitudes on a helium balloon before firing, for upper atmosphere research. The first Rockoon launch of the Loki I occurred on Jul 1 1955 from shipboard off the coast of Greenland.
During Jul-Oct 1955 instrumented Loki I and Deacon rockets were successfully balloon launched (Rockoons) from shipboard off the coast of Greenland in cosmic-ray studies by The University of Iowa research group. Army Ordnance supplied JPL-developed Loki rockets and ONR sponsored the project.
The first attempt of the Deacon Rockoon on Aug 21 1952 06:25 GMT from the Arctic Ocean 80.1 N x 68.5 W was a failure. However, success came on Aug 9 1953 in the Atlantic Ocean, Launch Site 11 Launch Point 10 74.38 N x 71.93 W, at 05:54 GMT. Quickly followed by another success on Aug 30 1953 20:46 GMT at Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11 Launch Point 13 53.13 N, 54.75 W.
Recent Usage
More recently, the JP Aerospace company has developed and used rockoons as part of its space access plans.
Additionally, Iowa State University has started a program to develop rockoons (originally as a project of the ISSS). Some of Iowa States work came as the result of SEDS creating a contest focused on the deployment of Rockoons; however, due to several problems with the competition it was unable to lift off the ground.
Significant work has been recently done by Romanian space company ARCASPACE.
