Pegasus (XL) Launch Vehicle Flight History Page 1 of 1: List by Variant/Year (1990-Present) 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 - - - - - - - 2010 - - - - 3(0)% - 3(0) 2011 - - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) 10(0) - 13(1) Orbit 6(2) 4(0) 30(3) - - - 40(5) Total 6(2) 4(0) 30(3) 3(1) 10(0) - 53(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. % Two 3-stage OBV flights and one 2-stage OBV "booster validation" test flight. 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 12/27/2011 by Ed Kyle