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Towed Glider Air-Launch System (abbv. TGALS) is a NASA-designed two-stage air-launched reuable launch system currently in development at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. The vehicle uses a glider, tow plane, and rocket. Both the glider and tow plane are reusable.〔〔 The vehicle, compared to other designs such as Swiss Space Systems' SOAR spaceplane and Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo vehicle, is launched from a glider. This design emulates a air-launched multistage rocket with two recoverable stages: the tow plane and the glider itself.〔 ==Design== The system comprises three large components: a tow plane, a glider, and a rocket. The tow plane, a conventional small aircraft, carries the glider up to about 12 thousand meters before releasing the towline and flying back. The glider, carrying its own hybrid or solid rocket motor, will ignite its engine to glide higher than the tow plane's maximum altitude. Following burnout of the rocket, the glider will jettison the rocket stage of the vehicle. The rocket stage will then carry a payload into low Earth orbit. NASA's concept aims to create a platform that can launch 15 times the mass of the glider, compared to 0.7 times for other air-launch reusable spaceflight systems. According to Aero News, the advantage of the system is that gliders don't carry engines with them and have longer, lighter wings, resulting in lower total vehicle mass. NASA discussed the advantages of this system in a report: The TGALS demonstration's goal is to provide proof-of-concept of a towed, airborne launch platform. Distinct advantages are believed possible in cost, logistic efficiency, and performance when utilizing a towed, high lift-to-drag launch platform as opposed to utilizing a traditional powered 'mothership' launch platform. The project goal is to examine the performance advantage, as well as the operational aspects, of a towed, airborne launch system. According to Gerrad Budd, the development manager of NASA Armstrong Center's air launch program, "() thinks that (glider ) is the optimization for air launch", comparing the design of the system to other air launch systems in development. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Towed Glider Air-Launch System」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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