Originally, there was only one way to send a spacecraft into orbit, and only two places where it could be done. The method was a rocket, and ones powerful enough to reach orbit were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, or the Balkinour Cosmodrome in the Soviet Union. As the years progressed more sites have been built, including Vandenburg Air Force Base in California, but in many ways they were mirror images of the original two sites.

    New launch platforms have been considered, including electromagnetic rail, space elevators, and the like, but most have proven to be unfeasible with today's technology. Variants of conventional launch sites have been developed, most notably in the form of a large ship that goes to a fixed point on the equator before launching its commercial rocket, taking the most advantage of the earth's rotational velocity.

    There are launch systems on both land and sea, and a third location for launches is begging to be explored - air. NASA has been launching small micro satellites from Pegasus rockets strapped under a wing of a C-120 cargo plane for years, with amazing success. Pegasus, however, has nowhere near the thrust needed to send a manned spacecraft into orbit. Thus, a new air-based launch system needs to be developed.

    Air launches provide several advantages over their land and sea counterparts. They provide an initial velocity in addition to the Earth's rotational velocity, giving it a head start over even rockets launched from the equator. They also provide altitude, providing over 30,000 feet of altitude that the rockets would otherwise have to provide for itself. However, its key benefit is not as obvious. When at an altitude of 30,000 feet, the launch platform is above the clouds, and in turn, the weather. This eliminates the launch scrubs due to stringent weather constraints that has plagued the Shuttle for years. Conventional aircraft can take off in conditions that would leave the shuttle grounded, and obtain an altitude that has no weather constraints for the actual rocket launch.

    The C-120 aircraft is the largest cargo carrier in the American armed forces. However, even its payload is insufficient for a manned launch vehicle. A quick look into what is in the Russian's inventory provides an excellent solution – the An-225 cargo plane commonly called Mirya. It has a cargo capacity of over 300,000 tons, and the Russians already designed a launch platform to take advantage of its enormous payload capacity. This program is called MAKS, a launch system designed to accommodate anything from geosynchronous satellites to a 2 manned mini-shuttle with a payload bay that could carry nearly 7 tons into a 125 mile orbit. Sadly, only one An-225 plane was built and MAKS lost its development funding with the fall of the Soviet Union.

    The An-225, as well as the MAKS launch platform, were developed in the late eighties, and could use an update in technology. Notably, the An-225's engines are known to be unreliable, a characteristic that is inexcusable for a man-rated launch platform. General Electric is well known for their GE90 series jet engines, two of which power the 777 passenger plane. The latest in the GE90 series provides 140% additional thrust per engine than what the An-225 uses. By replacing all six of the An-225's engines with six GE90 engines, and increasing the surface area of the wings for increased lift and structural support, the An-225 could reach a higher altitude, go faster than originally possible, although still subsonic, and carry a heavier payload than originally possible. These changes to the An-225, which I have personally designed as An-225e, for enhanced, would create a superior launch platform that is capable of a wide range of payloads, surpassing even the payload capacity of the Shuttle for heavy-lift launch systems.

    Despite these improvements, I developed my launch system and orbiter around the original An-225 specifications, providing a technology demonstrator of an air launched, reusable, launch vehicle. The An-225e is designed for continued for numerous manned and unmanned vehicles at varying altitudes and orbital inclinations for decades to come.