F104s to launch satellites

[bogeyman]

".....Starfighters will launch their first satellites sometime in 2018. The F-104s will fly over the Atlantic Ocean, their pilots taking the jets to around 60,000ft, the jets climbing at an acute angle to give the rockets the right trajectory to leave the pull of the Earth’s gravity. Once more, a Starfighter pilot will look out of the confines of his cockpit and see the curve of the Earth, the sky a rich blue-black above."

It will save on fuel, cheaper to launch sats into orbit, and with nano technology being more available, the satellites are much smaller and weight a lot less.

Makes you wonder about classified space programs what have launched previously into space and for what reason?

[Carmody]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-104_Starfighter

what seems to be indicated is... how long has this been going on?

The F-104 starfighter was 'on line' in the US military in early 1958, with it's first flight in 1956.

That's fifty-eight to sixty years ago.

[BMJ]

Possible, if they could launch a 1,180kg missile into space from an aircraft, then why not a satellite.
ASM-135 ASAT
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASM-135_ASAT

Anti-satellite trials
ASM-135 ASAT test launch from F-15A 76-0084 in 1985
The ASM-135 missile was designed to be a standoff anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon, with the F-15 acting as a first stage. The F-15As were modified to carry one ASM-135 on the centerline station with extra equipment within a special centerline pylon. The launch aircraft executed a Mach 1.22, 3.8 g climb at 65° to release the ASAT missile at an altitude of 38,100 ft (11,600 m). The flight computer was updated to control the zoom-climb and missile release.

The third test flight involved a retired P78-1 solar observatory satellite in a 345-mile (555 km) orbit, which was destroyed by kinetic energy. The ASAT program involved five test launches. The program was officially terminated in 1988.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/ASAT_missile_launch.jpg
ASM-135 ASAT test launch from F-15A 76-0084 in 1985