The liquid Fuel sounding rockets available in 1950 were expensive. Dr. James Van Allen, by then of the University of Iowa, wanted to study solar flares and other phenomena on a budget. Small, relatively inexpensive rockets, such as the Deacon, were available for scientific work, but small rockets are seriously hampered by air resistance. Van Allen's solution was the Rockoon, a small rocket lifted above most of the
earth’s atmosphere by a balloon.
Because of the ing of a Rockoon, It was necessary launch the randomly aimed, Rockoons from ships, far from populated areas. Typically, researchers would hitch a ride on a Navy ship that was already covering the area of scientific interest. Once the 40 foot balloon was airborne, it took about 80 minutes to reach a firing altitude of 30,000 to 90,000 feet. Depending on the nature of a flight, the rocket would be ignited at a certain altitude, at a certain time, or when conditions such a solar flares were detected from the ground. The Deacon could reach anywhere from 30 to 60 miles. A typical expedition would launch 10 Rockoons for the cost of one larger sounding rocket launch.