The Stratolaunch is being designed by the same company that developed the first private flight into space. They are working hard to design what would become the largest aircraft to ever be flown. Space X will use a reusable rocket with a glider system off of this massive platform of an aircraft. The talk is that the Stratolaunch seems like a great platform to replace the space shuttle program. This system is definitely the big brother to Allen and Rutan’s design for Virgin Galactic’s Space Ship Two. The designers have planned the craft to not only be for orbiting but possibly things beyond that point.
The Stratolaunch is being funded by both Space X CEO and CTO Elon Musk and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Allen is quoted as saying, “We are at the dawn of radical change in the space launch industry. Stratolaunch Systems is pioneering an innovative solution that will revolutionize space travel.”
This enormous concept plane calls for parallel fuselages attached by a 385-foot wing. The monster of a wing would have six 747 engines to power this 1.2 million pound plane into the air. The Stratolauch will be able to fly 1,300 nautical miles, but the big negative of this concept is that it will require a 12,000-foot runway for takeoffs and landings. The key purpose of this massive carrier plane is to bear the rocket. It will be a multi-stage rocket booster which will be manufactured by Space X the company in which Elon Musk is CEO and CTO. It would be put together with the carrier plane with an integration system designed by Dynetics out of Alabama. This booster will have a 490,000-pound rocket which will allow it to throw heavy cargo into orbit, both for its potential government or commercial clients.
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