Stargazer Keeps the L-1011 TriStar Flying as a Pegasus Launch Aircraft

Northrop Grumman operates Stargazer, registration N140SC, a Lockheed L-1011-100 TriStar used to carry Pegasus rockets for air launches and to support research flights. The aircraft began as an L-1011-1 and received its L-1011-100 configuration in 1977.

Key details

• Orbital Sciences acquired N140SC in 1992 and spent more than two years preparing it for rocket-launch operations.
• Air Canada operated 18 L-1011 TriStars: 12 L-1011-1/100/150 aircraft and six L-1011-500s.
• Production totals cited for other types include 1,574 Boeing 747s, 747 Boeing 747-100s, 561 Airbus A300s, and 386 McDonnell Douglas DC-10s.
• Air Canada previously operated N140SC as C-FTNJ; it also had a brief lease to Air Lanka in February 1982.
• Orbis International operates one MD-10-30, N330AU, as a flying eye hospital and training facility. It entered service in 2016.

Why it matters

Stargazer gives the Pegasus program an aircraft-based launch platform, carrying the rocket aloft before release rather than launching it from the ground. Its research-flight role also puts the TriStar to work beyond commercial passenger service.