Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s massive new aircraft, the Stratolaunch, is complete and has rolled out of its hanger for first…
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s massive new aircraft, the Stratolaunch, is complete and has rolled out of its hanger for first time. The Stratolaunch has been six years in the making; Allen developed it to launch rockets inexpensively into low earth orbit for commercial, governmental, and philanthropic organizations to gather data and research. The company today announced that it moved the aircraft out of its hanger to conduct fueling tests. It added that this step marks the completion of the initial aircraft construction phase, and the beginning of the ground and flight testing phase.
To prepare for the rollout, Stratolaunch has spent the last several weeks removing the three-story scaffolding and surrounding construction infrastructure. That in and of itself was a massive undertaking, because the 500,000-pound aircraft is the world’s largest plane by wingspan. It measures 385 feet — longer than a football field. It’s also 50 feet tall and 238 feet long from nose to tail. The plane is built around a pair of retired 747s, and employs their engines, avionics, landing gear, and flight deck to cut down on costs and speed up the development cycle.
The company reiterated its plans to first use it to launch a single Orbital ATK Pegasus XL vehicle, with the capability to launch up to three Pegasus vehicles in a single sortie mission. It added that it’s begun preparations for delivering the launch vehicle to its Mojave facilities.
“Over the coming weeks and months, we’ ll be actively conducting ground and flightline testing at the Mojave Air and Space Port, ” the company said in a statement.
The craft is capable of carrying up to 550,000 pounds of weight at takeoff. It requires an insane 12,000-foot runway, which is over two miles and considerably longer than a passenger jet’s requirements. That’s going to limit where and when the Stratolaunch can take off and land.
Ultimately, the goal of the Stratolaunch is to dramatically increase the number and reduce the cost of launches for small to midrange payloads. It will compete with existing rocket companies for the same contracts, and is expected to begin commercial operation in 2019.
Watch video of the rollout below:
