Why do we have to fly rockets straight up and out of the atmosphere? Why can’t we fly a ship like a plane and just go higher and higher and higher, then rocket booster out past the exosphere. I know the air is thin way up there, so at the highest, tilt upwards and rocket boost

Question

Why do we have to fly rockets straight up and out of the atmosphere? Why can’t we fly a ship like a plane and just go higher and higher and higher, then rocket booster out past the exosphere. I know the air is thin way up there, so at the highest, tilt upwards and rocket boost

In: Engineering

Answer 1

Think you are looking for something like this…
Virgin Orbit launched a rocket from a plane
Instead of lifting off from the ground, the rocket carrying these Nasa satellites was slung under the wing of a modified Boeing 747, called Cosmic Girl. The plane carried them to a height of 11km (6.8 miles) before launching the rocket.