Tour the Plane Giving NASA’s ICON a Ride to Space

  • Released Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Early in the morning of Nov. 7, 2018, NASA launches the Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, a spacecraft that will explore the dynamic region where Earth meets space. ICON launches on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, which is carried aloft by the Stargazer L-1011 aircraft.


Join NASA on a behind-the-scenes tour of this plane, once a jet airliner and now uniquely retrofitted to boost spacecraft into low-Earth orbit. Learn about ICON’s science and meet the people — including an engineer, technician, and pilot — who will help launch the spacecraft into orbit.

Learn more at: nasa.gov/icon

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Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Release date

This page was originally published on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:46 PM EDT.


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