The US Department of Defense’s technology arm Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) will start testing the use of high-performance fighter jets to deliver “cheaper, faster and easier” ways of launching small satellites into space.

The Darpa-led Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (Alasa) programme would, in 2016, launch the first three of 12 test payloads to start mapping out the viability and sustainability of propelling 100 lb satellites into low Earth orbit, sidelining conventional, costly fixed-infrastructure launches for smaller satellites.

Darpa’s move to implement the Phase 2 orbital demonstrations, for which Boeing had been selected as prime contractor, over the next two years, followed the completion in 2014  of the Phase 1 design.

The programme aimed to develop a more economical and reliable alternative to the costly – at around $30-million a mission - years-long waitlisted and limited-location options of launching rockets into space by leveraging unmodified military aircraft, Darpa Alasa programme head Mitchell Burnside Clapp said at the Connected Africa conference, in Sandton, on Tuesday.

Alasa’s plan was to implement a launch mission within 24 hours of call-up, for less than $1-million a launch, providing market opportunities for the military, civil and commercial industries.

“We envision an alternative to ride-sharing for satellites that enables satellite owners to launch payloads from any location into orbits of their choosing, on schedules of their choosing, on a launch vehicle designed specifically for small payloads,” he explained.

The infrastructure costs and reliability would be mitigated through the use of runways instead of fixed vertical launch sites, where the launches were weather dependent, as well as automating operations and eliminating unnecessary services.

The first three test launches, starting in the first half 2016, would contain engineering payloads, while Darpa was seeking dedicated payloads to test for the final nine launches.

Further, the group also planned to initiate two 24-hour launch demonstrations, after which the agency would investigate options to transition the concept into commercial operations.