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  Orbital Sciences Corporation is the manufacturer of the launch vehicle... 
 
 

Orbital Sciences Corporation is the manufacturer of the Pegasus launch vehicle for the HESSI Spacecraft. The three-stage Pegasus launch vehicle is carried by an aircraft approxamately 40,000 feet over the open ocean where it is released into freefall for 5 seconds before igniting its first stage rocket motor. The rocket achieves orbit in about ten minutes.