Rocket-launched 'Rapid Eye' drone's rapid demise

In 2007, Darpa, the Pentagon's far-out science arm, announced plans to package a folding drone inside the nose cone of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The concept was fairly straightforward: In the event of an emerging crisis, you could launch Rapid Eye. Within an hour, the drone would be on station, and once its mission was complete, it could be replaced by another long-loitering, pilotless aircraft. But the rocket-launched drone had some serious conceptual flaws.

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