Altair, a concept for an airborne small satellite launch system developed by a group of space organizations and companies (Onera, Cnes, GTD,...) was tested in flight at the Guyana Space Centre a few days ago. During a series of demonstration flights, Altair successfully dropped a model launcher. Once this step has been taken, this launcher concept could interest Arianespace and why not join its fleet of launchers within a few years. At the Guyana Space Centre, the technical teams flew the Altair experimental vehicle to test the operation of a reusable airborne launch system, i.e. a launcher that launches from an automated aircraft that can be reused in full flight. The flights took place from the aerodrome of the Guyana Space Centre and not from one of the three firing points in service from which Vega, Soyuz and Ariane are launched. Called Altair (Air Launch space Transportation using an Automated aircraft and an Innovative Rocket), this demonstrator of an airborne small satellite launch system was developed as part of the European Commission's Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) programme. Altair will be used to launch satellites weighing 50 to 150 kg into low orbits between 400 and 1,000 kilometres above sea level. The role of GTD in this project is essential, assuming a large part of the 'on-board' and 'ground' control subsystems and software.
