Launching Spacecraft From Aircraft

Embedded Geek writes: "New Scientist has an article on a proposed launch scheme named 'Bladerunner' (presumably, someone is a P.K. Dick fan) that would use a pneumatic launcher to shove a launch vehicle out the back of a military transport aircraft at high altitude (40,000 feet/12,000 meters). As with all the new systems (such as this one) the goal is to reduce launch costs to more reasonable levels (to about $6K/kilo from today's $11-44K). An existing Pegasus system uses dedicated B-52s with the vehicle slung underneath, but Bladerunner would be an improvement by not requiring dedicated planes (the launcher could be set up on a transport in 24 hours) and also could accomodate larger vehicles (since it wouldn't be slung underneath)."