The U.S. Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) performed a drop test of Airlaunch LLC‘s Quickreach launch vehicle from an Air Force C-17, the company announced June 15. The simulated rocket weighted 65,000 pounds, the heaviest single load to ever be dropped out of the plane.

“This was an important step for the program,” Steven Walker of DARPA, said in a statement. “It expanded the envelope of C-17 air drop capabilities, and points the way toward a safe extraction technique for an affordable and responsive spacelift capability.”

The drop test and related activities were conducted at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., by the Air Force Flight Test Center 412th Test Wing and the 418th Flight Test Squadron in conjunction with the C-17 Systems Group of Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The flight consisted of a 65,000-pound drop test article, which simulates the Quickreach rocket.

DARPA is funding development of the vehicle under its Falcon Small Launch Vehicle program, which is intended to develop a vehicle that can launch a 1,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit for less than $5 million within a 24-hour notice.

Airlaunch hopes to conduct a demonstration flight of the rocket in 2008.