Stratolaunch

[NAC4EV]

First flight

https://www.stratolaunch.com/

In simple terms, the Stratolaunch aircraft is a giant flying launch pad, designed to hurtle satellites into low Earth orbit. It aims to offer the military, private companies and even NASA itself a more economical way to get into space. Here's how Stratolaunch is supposed to work once the plane is fully tested and certified: The jet, carrying a rocket loaded with a satellite, will take off from Mojave and climb to an altitude of 35,000 feet. There, pilots will launch the rocket from the plane on a trajectory toward space. The plane then will land safety back at Mojave, while the rocket carries the satellite into an orbit ranging from about 300 miles to 1,200 miles above Earth. The rocket deploys the satellite before eventually falling back to Earth, burning up in the sky like a meteor.

 

[Thebobo]

I'd be curious to see the spar setup that connects the two fuses. Incredible forces there surprised it doesn't rip in two.

 

[Moonbeam]

I'd be curious to see the spar setup that connects the two fuses. Incredible forces there surprised it doesn't rip in two.

My guess is that there's a shit load of feedback sensors, and controls and computer power is devoted just to dealing with that. It looks like you could break it in half just trying taxiing to or from a runway.

 

[Indus]

Yeah I'm a bit concerned about turbulence ripping the fuselage over time.

On the bright side, Mojave sounds like a nice area.. all those windmills causing cancer.. it might be a Trumper free zone!

 

[Thump553]

Sounds like the X-15 project redesigned for modern times. There the carrier plane would drop the X-15 when it was ready to launch so there was no major stress.

 

[Moonbeam]

Yeah I'm a bit concerned about turbulence ripping the fuselage over time.

On the bright side, Mojave sounds like a nice area.. all those windmills causing cancer.. it might be a Trumper free zone!

It's not so much cancer I fear. I mean that's just silly. The real concern is that all those spinning propellers will pull the Earth off axis.

 

[compuwiz1]

Yeah I'm a bit concerned about turbulence ripping the fuselage over time.

On the bright side, Mojave sounds like a nice area.. all those windmills causing cancer.. it might be a Trumper free zone!

LOL! You are so obsessed, you couldn't even leave him out of a thread about an airplane. That must be a hard way to live.

BTW, having two bodies seems pretty strange. Should have just built a huge ass plane with a large wingspan.

 

[NAC4EV]

BTW, having two bodies seems pretty strange. Should have just built a huge ass plane with a large wingspan.

Duh!!!
The space rocket vehicle goes where?????

 

[feralkid]

BTW, having two bodies seems pretty strange. Should have just built a huge ass plane with a large wingspan.

It's nothing that hasn't been done before.
First tried over a century ago:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin-fuselage_aircraft

 

[Moonbeam]

LOL! You are so obsessed, you couldn't even leave him out of a thread about an airplane. That must be a hard way to live.

BTW, having two bodies seems pretty strange. Should have just built a huge ass plane with a large wingspan.

How would you plan taking off with a rocket under one wing? Isn't the he whole point of the design to make room for a rocket suspended in the middle below the thingi that connects the two bodies and midway between it the bottom of the wheels? It's supposed to carry a rocket or shuttle for high altitude launch. It's a flying first stage.

Oops, I didn't refresh the page.

 

[hal2kilo]

This had me confused with the Richard Branson Virgin Galactic thing since it was out at Mohave and Controlled Composites was also involved in this. I had really forgotten about Paul's project. This things a monster compared to Virgin's lift vehicle. Hope someone picks up the slack after Paul Allen's death. Obital has something more akin to the X-15 setup, except they were launching Pegasus MDI target missiles slung under one wing.

 

[woolfe9998]

So this is more economical that an ordinary vertical rocket launch even though the rocket isn't going to be reusable? Do we know how much more?

Also thinking payload size is limited, which is why it seems to be for satellites only.

 

[hal2kilo]

So this is more economical that an ordinary vertical rocket launch even though the rocket isn't going to be reusable? Do we know how much more?

Also thinking payload size is limited, which is why it seems to be for satellites only.

That's the rub. With Paul gone, and Elon's and Bezos's rocket boosters being reuseable, this may end of being a footnote in history.
Edit: I remember making fun of the 50s and early 60s scifi movies depicting rockets landing backwards.

 

[feralkid]

That's the rub. With Paul gone, and Elon's and Bezos's rocket boosters being reuseable, this may end of being a footnote in history.
Edit: I remember making fun of the 50s and early 60s scifi movies depicting rockets landing backwards.

Me too.
Twin booster return of Falcon heavy made me question my religion.

 

[hal2kilo]

Me too.
Twin booster return of Falcon heavy made me question my religion.

No shit.

 

[Homerboy]

Damn!

• Length: 238 ft (73 m) [13]
• Wingspan: 385 ft (117 m) [13]

 

[Jaskalas]

I don't quite understand how launching an aircraft up to 35,000 feet is cheaper than the rocket launching itself that distance. Must be differences in efficiency between the rocket VS jet engines, plus aerodynamics from the aircraft. Good luck to them.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I don't quite understand how launching an aircraft up to 35,000 feet is cheaper than the rocket launching itself that distance. Must be differences in efficiency between the rocket VS jet engines, plus aerodynamics from the aircraft. Good luck to them.

Mostly this, a huge amount of fuel is used lifting those big bastards to 35k ft where the air is thinner. It's far easier to start higher up at a few hundred MPH.

Citation: Have played kerbal space program, definitely know what Iim talking about.

 

[woolfe9998]

That's the rub. With Paul gone, and Elon's and Bezos's rocket boosters being reuseable, this may end of being a footnote in history.
Edit: I remember making fun of the 50s and early 60s scifi movies depicting rockets landing backwards.

Yeah I see it as more of a niche, a way to launch satellites less expensively, but not something which will impact the future of manned flight since I doubt this system can accommodate especially large payloads. I don't see even launching unmanned probes with this.

 

[wirelessenabled]

I don't quite understand how launching an aircraft up to 35,000 feet is cheaper than the rocket launching itself that distance. Must be differences in efficiency between the rocket VS jet engines, plus aerodynamics from the aircraft. Good luck to them.

Aircraft get oxidizer from the air, rockets need to carry their own oxidizer. Also aircraft use the air for lift while rockets are a brute force vehicle.