True, air-drop systems are out there, but my point was that the vehicle that launched Unity is too small to launch useful payloads, and air-dropping as a system is a tough sell even with a larger launch vehicle.
t’s a pretty bonkers launch system. A rocket that uses RP-1 (kerosene, that’s fine) and liquid oxygen (requires fueling just before launch) that gets dropped, then ignited while in approximate freefall at hopefully the correct orientation. Additionally from a guidance perspective this kind of launch is a nightmare for the onboard INS.
I don’t see this system ever being used for much more than non-critical payloads. That is, we won’t see a NASA deep space probe launched like this. But it has some utility in that it can fly above much of the bad weather that could keep a land-based launch grounded.
