Editing McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle (section)

====Anti-satellite trials====
[[File:ASAT missile launch.jpg|thumb|upright|[[ASM-135]] ASAT test launch from F-15A ''76-0084'' in 1985]]

The [[ASM-135 ASAT|ASM-135]] missile was designed to be a standoff [[anti-satellite weapon|antisatellite]] (ASAT) weapon, with the F-15 acting as a [[first stage (rocketry)|first stage]]. The Soviet Union could correlate a U.S. rocket launch with a spy satellite loss, but an F-15 carrying an ASAT would blend in among hundreds of F-15 flights. From January 1984 to September 1986, two F-15As were used as launch platforms for the ASAT missile. The F-15As were modified to carry one ASM-135 on the centerline station with extra equipment within a special centerline pylon.<ref name=Jenkins_p31>Jenkins 1998, p. 31.</ref><ref>[https://www.homestead.afrc.af.mil/News/story/id/123068364/ "Celestial Eagle: Historic F-15 antisatellite mission remembered"]. [https://www.homestead.afrc.af.mil/News/story/id/123068364/] ''US Air Force''. Retrieved: 24 September 2010.</ref> The launch aircraft executed a Mach 1.22, 3.8 g climb at 65° to release the ASAT missile at an altitude of {{convert|38100|ft|m|abbr=on|sigfig=3}}.<ref name=asat /><ref name=AF_mag_can>{{cite web |last=Grier |first=Peter |url=https://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2009/February%202009/0209tomato.aspx |title=The flying tomato can |work=Air Force magazine |date=February 2009 |access-date=24 September 2010 |archive-date=24 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224234738/http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2009/February%202009/0209tomato.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref> The flight computer was updated to control the zoom-climb and missile release.

The third test flight involved a functional [[P78-1]] solar observatory satellite in a {{convert|345|mi|km|adj=on}} orbit, which was destroyed by [[kinetic energy]].<ref name=asat>Karambelas, Gregory and Sven Grahn, eds. [http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/ASAT/F15ASAT.html "The F-15 ASAT story"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105173346/http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/ASAT/F15ASAT.html |date=5 January 2008}}. ''svengrahn.pp.se''. Retrieved: 30 December 2010.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eberhart |first=J. |date=1985 |title=ASAT Target Was Working Research Satellite |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3970241 |journal=Science News |volume=128 |issue=13 |page=197 |doi=10.2307/3970241 |issn=0036-8423 |jstor=3970241}}</ref> The pilot, USAF Major [[Wilbert Pearson|Wilbert D. "Doug" Pearson]], became the only pilot to destroy a satellite.<ref name=AF_mag_can /> The ASAT program involved five test launches. The program was officially terminated in 1988.<ref name=Jenkins_p31 /><ref name=AF_mag_can />