Canadian gun-launched orbital launch vehicle. In 1962-1967
Canada's Gerard Bull led development of the Martlet system for
gun-launched access to space. The program was cancelled before
the objective of gun launch to orbit was attained. Even after
the rocket established its primacy as a method of accessing
space, Gerald Bull of the Canadian Armament and Research
Development Establishment began a life-long struggle to use guns
for cheap access to space. In the 1950's Bull pioneered the use
of gun-fired models as an economical approach to study
supersonic aerodynamics. The model was fitted with a wooden
shell, or sabot, that matched the diameter of the gun barrel.
After leaving the barrel the sabot would fall away and the model
would continue, with high-speed cameras recording its behaviour
in flight. By 1961 Bull had expanded his concept and obtained a
$10 million joint contract from the US and Canadian Defence
Departments for a High Altitude Research Program (HARP). This
was to prove the feasibility of using l