Pegasus (XL) Launch Vehicle Flight History Page 1 of 1: List by Variant/Year (1990-2009) and List of Failures L(F) = Number of Launches(Number of Failures) Pegasus Pegasus Pegasus Hyper Taurus Pegasus Pegasus H XL X* Lite* Orbital All Total Total Year L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1990 1(0) - - - - 1(0) 1(0) 1991 1(1) - - - - 1(1) 1(1) 1992 - - - - - - - 1993 2(0) - - - - 2(0) 2(0) 1994 2(1) - 1(1) - - 3(2) 3(2) 1995 - 1(0) 1(1) - - 2(1) 2(1) 1996 - 1(0) 4(1) - - 5(1) 5(1) 1997 - - 5(0) - - 5(0) 5(0) 1998 - 1(0) 5(0) - - 6(0) 6(0) 1999 - - 3(0) - - 3(0) 3(0) 2000 - 1(0) 1(0) - - 2(0) 2(0) 2001 - - - 1(1) - - 1(1) 2002 - - 1(0) - - 1(0) 1(0) 2003 - - 4(0) - 2(0) 4(0) 6(0) 2004 - - - 2(0) 1(0)+ - 3(0) 2005 - - 1(0) - 1(0) 1(0) 2(0) 2006 - - 1(0) - 1(0) 1(0) 2(0) 2007 - - 1(0) - 1(0) 1(0) 2(0) 2008 - - 2(0) - 1(0) 2(0) 3(0) 2009 - - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pegasus Pegasus Pegasus Hyper Taurus Pegasus Pegasus H XL X* Lite* Orbital All Total Total L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suborb - - - 3(1) 7(0) - 10(1) Orbit 6(2) 4(0) 30(3) - - - 40(5) Total 6(2) 4(0) 30(3) 3(1) 7(0) - 50(6) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Footnotes: * Suborbital Flights. Hyper-X is drop-launched Pegasus first stage only. "Taurus-Lite" (Orbital Boost Vehicle) is modified three-stage Pegasus-XL without wings, vertically launched from a flat pad or from a silo. OBV deployed at Greely, AL and VAFB, CA beginning in 2004. + Does not include 12-15-2004 missile defense test failure during which Taurus-Lite OBV-4 with EKV prototype kill vehicle did not launch from Kwajalien silo to intercept simulated attacking missile launched from Kodiak, Alaska. Comprehensive Pegasus Failure List Date Vehicle ID Site Payload Failure Description Result# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7/17/1991 Pegasus/HAPS F2 EAFB B-52 7xMicrosat 1st stg sep delay, low perigee (LEO) 5/19/1994 Pegasus/HAPS F5 EAFB B-52 STEP 2 Incorrect (low) orbit (HAPS?) (LEO) 6/27/1994 Pegasus XL F6 V L-1011 STEP 1 1st stg wing structure fail FTO 6/22/1995 Pegasus XL F9 V L-1011 STEP 3 2nd stg failed, RSO FTO 11/4/1996 Pegasus XL F14 WI L-1011 SAC-B/HETE Battery fail, sats no sep 3rd stg (LEO) 6/2/2001 Hyper X 1 EAFB B-52 X-43A Control failure (suborbital) (FSO) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ # FTO: Failed to Orbit (EEO): Unintended Eliptical Earth Orbit (GTO): Unintended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (LEO): Unintended/Improper Low Earth Orbit (FSO): Failed Suborbital "EAFB": Edwards Air Force Base, California "V": Vandenberg AFB, California "WI": Wallops Island Launch Site, Virginia Jonathan's Space Report Launch Vehicle Database "http://www.planet4589.org/space/lvdb/index.html" Encylopedia Astronautica "http://www.astronautix.com/" Gunter's Space Page "http://www.skyrocket.de/space" TRW Space Logs, 1957-1996. Last Update 01/08/2010 by Ed Kyle