Look up: rockoon

1. 
   rockoon
   a small instrumented rocket sounding system carried by a balloon to a pre-determined height and fired by a ground-controlled radio relay when some particular event,e.g.,a solar flare,occurs Category: Standards, measures and testing
   Found on http://www.mijnwoordenboek.nl/definition
   
   
2. 
   Rockoon
   right A `rockoon` (derived from the terms `rocket` and `balloon`) was an extension to the rocket, which allowed the rocket to achieve further distance. The rockoon was a solid fuel rocket that, rather than being immediately lit while on the ground, was first carried into the upper atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon, and then separated from the balloon when it had reached its maximum height and automatically ignited. This would allow the rocket to...
   Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockoon
   
   
3. 
   rockoon
   A Navy rockoon just after a shipboard launch. A Deacon rocket is suspended below the balloon A high-altitude balloon from which a small sounding rocket could be launched. The first rockoon was sent up in 1952 from the icebreaker Eastwind off Greenland by a research group headed by James Van All...
   Found on http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedi