The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 17, 2018
Filed:
Feb. 18, 2016
Applicant:
The United States of America, As Represented BY the Administrator of Nasa, Washington, DC (US);
Inventor:
Gerald D Budd, Lancaster, CA (US);
Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B64G 1/00 (2006.01); B64D 3/00 (2006.01); B64C 31/02 (2006.01); B64C 39/04 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B64G 1/005 (2013.01); B64C 31/02 (2013.01); B64C 39/04 (2013.01); B64D 3/00 (2013.01);
Abstract
The invention is a system and method of air launching a powered launch vehicle into space or high altitude. More specifically, the invention is a tow aircraft which tows an unpowered glider, with the powered launch vehicle attached thereto, to launch altitude. The powered launch vehicle is released from the unpowered glider and powered on for launch.