This is a launch tower, made by Model Missiles in the 1960s, which was used for launching flying rocket and missile models. It is made of steel and wood. A solid propellant rocket motor propels the model, and then at the end of the vertical flight it forces the release of a parachute. The model is then retrieved and can be used again. G. Harry Stine, one of the American pioneers in the field of flying rocket and missile models, donated the artifact to the museum in 1973.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.