News Stratolaunch

[MaverickSawyer]

Hehe. People missing the stop sign near the hangar? I wonder why...

 

[Pipcard]

Look, the plane's fuselage looks different now! And there's the Orbital-made booster rocket! Now that's innovation you can count on.

 

[boogabooga]

Interesting.

Now it looks like it's using components from the companies that have actual air launched rocket experience.

Looks like they have abandoned the frankenplane 747 for a brand new Scaled Composites design, and are going for a new Orbital Sciences launch vehicle, and I highly suspect it's going to be solid fueled. So this will be a sort of big White Knight/ big Pegasus hybrid.

Abandoning hacks of existing designs = higher development costs, but this is looking less stupid now.

I think if this project fails now it will be due to financials, etc. and not because of overwhelming technical challenges.

 

[orb]

Parabolic Arc: Stratolaunch Opens Mojave Hangar

 

[Pipcard]

NASAspaceflight: Stratolaunch and Orbital – The Height of Air Launch

 

[Pipcard]

 

[Kendo]

This would make a great addon.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Outside of stripping the engines off of a 747 and keeping CGI animators busy, has anything else been done? Where is the carrrier aircraft in the design/build process? Not meaning to sound snarky, just curious. I don't see any hardware being built yet.

 

[Tychonaut]

I love how even the CGI carrier aircraft and rocket have "A Paul G. Allen Project" emblazoned on them.
If you could fuel a rocket on vanity and ego, this guy could get us to Mars next year.

 

[Pipcard]

I love how even the CGI carrier aircraft and rocket have "A Paul G. Allen Project" emblazoned on them.
If you could fuel a rocket on vanity and ego, this guy could get us to Mars next year.

All the way back to SpaceShipOne.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Resurrecting this thread with new information...

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ship-rolls-out-of-its-nest-for-the-first-time

After the better part of a decade of development, we are getting our first glimpse of Stratolaunch's massive mothership outside her low-slung hangar at Mojave Air and Space Port. As expected, the size and design of the huge and exotic aircraft is impressive to say the least. At 385 feet wide, it has the longest wingspan of any aircraft in the world—even longer than the record-setting Hughes H-4 Flying Boat, aka the "Spruce Goose." Loaded fully, it will tip the scales at a whopping 1,300,000 pounds, and is powered by six Pratt & Whitney PW4056 turbofan engines—the same engine that powers many 747-400s—putting out a combined 340,500 pounds of thrust.

Stratolaunch is slated to take its first flight later this year, and Allen and crew think the Stratolaunch system will be fully operational by the end of the decade.

 

[Andy44]

Wow, what a beast!

I always wonder about planes with two cockpits like that. I assume only one is a real cockpit, right? What do the guys in the other cockpit do, crack open a brew and enjoy the scenery while making faces at the flight crew in the other window?

 

[boogabooga]

Wow, what a beast!

I always wonder about planes with two cockpits like that. I assume only one is a real cockpit, right? What do the guys in the other cockpit do, crack open a brew and enjoy the scenery while making faces at the flight crew in the other window?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-82_Twin_Mustang

Also, does Stratolaunch get the award for the most Kerbal space launch concept?

 

[Ravenous]

Good grief that thing looks even huger than I thought it would...

Those engines must drink the tanks dry pretty quickly!

 

[80mileshigh]

Fuselage reminiscent of the Martin Spacemaster first stage:

 

[Admiral_Ritt]

Remarkable design. Some questions.

1) Currently the fully fueled and Rocketed(?) configuration have the range
of about 1000 NM, is it worth it to develop aerial refueling to enable to fly
closer to equator Thus increasing payload capacity by reducing delta Vee and fuel mass to go from
30deg inclination to S10 , 0 , N10, (to serve northern and southern hemisphere clients)


2) Was is too costly to build a supersonic design?


My favorite Space Shuttle concept design was
the a small shuttle mounted on a souped up XB70. With rocket assist and Sub Orbital Maneuvering system that would have yielded flight frequencies much closer to the 100 NASA was seeking, Albeit for a shuttle less than half the size of the retired orbiter fleet.

 

[Nicholas Kang]

Successful Completion of First Phase of Engine Testing!

[ame="https://twitter.com/PaulGAllen/status/910191626982531072"]Paul Allen on Twitter: "Started up @Stratolaunch's six 747 engines for the first time this past weekend!

Read more: https://t.co/kuYH7YgJYG https://t.co/CM2E2r9TsG"[/ame]

Stratolaunch Aircraft Hits Another Milestone with Completion of First Phase of Engine Testing​

9/19/2017

The Stratolaunch team is proud to announce that our aircraft is one step closer to providing convenient, reliable, and routine access to low Earth orbit.

We hit another important milestone this week by completing the first phase of engine testing. For the first time we started the aircraft’s six Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines.

Engine testing was conducted with a build-up approach and consisted of three phases. First as a ‘dry motor,’ where we used an auxiliary power unit to charge the engine. Next, as a ‘wet motor,’ where we introduced fuel. Finally, each engine was started one at a time and allowed to idle. In these initial tests, each of the six engines operated as expected.

The team completed fuel testing, testing all six fuel tanks to ensure proper operations. Each of the six fuel tanks were filled independently to ensure proper operations of fuel mechanisms and to validate the tanks were properly sealed.

In addition to fuel testing, we began testing the flight control system. So far we have exercised the full limits of motion and rate of deflection of control surfaces on the wing and stabilizers.

Building up to this week’s engine tests, prerequisite testing of the electrical, pneumatic, and fire detection systems were completed successfully.

 

[Nicholas Kang]

Successful Taxi Test!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbqWYdYA8Zj/?taken-by=atcpilot_photography

There are a couple good reasons for Mohave's airport being called "Air & Spaceport". The Stratolaunch Systems Aircraft N351SL being developed there is just one of them. With 117m of wingspan, this is the largest ever built aircraft! It's MTOW is 545t, the maiden flight is planned for 2019. Seen on 17 NOV 2017, 6 months after the roll-out, it was prepared for taxi runs in Mohave, CA.

 

[Nicholas Kang]

[ame="https://twitter.com/stratolaunch/status/968215041278291968"]Stratolaunch on Twitter: "Just released new aerial and ground shots of the latest test series performed this weekend. More to come! https://t.co/dTuoV0D48d… https://t.co/pK1PTpFeZv"[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AY-HC4sUGU"]Stratolaunch Taxi Test - YouTube[/ame]

Oh, and we have this one! :lol:

 

[IronRain]

https://www.geekwire.com/2019/stratolaunch-layoffs/

Stratolaunch, the Seattle-based space venture created by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen seven years ago, says it’s discontinuing its programs to develop a new type of rocket engine and a new line of rockets.

The company said it would continue work on the world’s largest airplane, which is designed to serve as a flying launch pad for rockets. Last week, Stratolaunch put its 385-foot-wide, twin-fuselage plane through a high-speed taxi test that many saw as a precursor for its first test flight at Mojave Air and Space Port.

“Stratolaunch is ending the development of their family of launch vehicles and rocket engine. We are streamlining operations, focusing on the aircraft and our ability to support a demonstration launch of the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL air-launch vehicle,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We are immensely proud of what we have accomplished and look forward to first flight in 2019.”