Stratolaunch: General Company and Development Updates and Discussions

[Rocket Science]

A cargo pod if needed would be relative cheap compared to the cost of this project. Some items might just need a simple fairing and or tail cone....

The last thing you want is to build cargo-specific fairings and tail cones. If you want this to be halfway cost-effective, you have to build a large, universal cargo container a.k.a. an airplane fuselage. Relatively cheap maybe, but still on the order of tens of millions of $.

I already mentioned a cargo pod which means "universal"... Knocking out aero fiberglass nose/tail-cones isn't all that costly for a "unique" high value item (did custom work all the time) and only "if needed"... You are thinking along the lines of a rocket fairing which is an expensive incorrect misinterpretation of my statement...

What would you suggest, rolling her into a museum right away? "Successes and failures in life all present a learning opportunity"...

[Rocket Science]

It's too bad that after canceling their own rocket development there are no appropriately sized rockets for this to launch. I know it won't happen, but I'd like to see them put some wings on Vega C and air launch it.

Welcome to the forum!

[Rocket Science]

Other famous aircraft have flown once and never again. But I’m hoping there is more to the program than “fly it once for Paul Allen”.

I don't believe this will be another Spruce Goose, could be a business opportunity...

I agree. Although the Spruce Goose was intended for carrying troops and tanks across the Atlantic in WW2, the Stratolaunch rocket launch platform is for peacetime purposes. The opportunity will rise for Stratolaunch to fly again when it is used for a rocket launch.

The point I am making like the AN-225 which ferried Buran and was a proposed launcher for MAKS it currently serves well as specialized cargo aircraft. Stratolaunch can serve in multi-roles as well, all that is required is "lateral thinking"...

The problem is that AN-225 really isn't seeing much demand. Certainly not enough demand to build a 2nd one. And Stratolaunch is much more limited to very large airfields with a wide enough runway.

This project has from the beginning seemed to be a solution in search of a problem. (or phrased another way: "If all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail")  They were determined to build the largest aircraft ever, its payload was always a secondary consideration. (the history of payload/rocket partners shows that)

But perhaps they will find some niche where this works where the AN-225 doesn't. "Build it and they will come" works sometimes, but often not.

So its like SLS with wings...

Nah, this one is already flying...

[catdlr]

The Big Impossible


Northrop Grumman
Published on Apr 29, 2019

Watch the story of how the world’s largest aircraft by wingspan came to be. Congratulations to Scaled Composites and Stratolaunch Systems Corp. on an incredible achievement.

[RcTeller]

To me,  the second flight of this aircraft is as important, and perhaps more so than the first.  It would show the project is continuing to be developed and is still at least partially funded.  Is there any evidence work is still proceeding beyond the analysis of flight data?

Cheers!

Paul

[Lars-J]

There are some rumors going around Mojave regarding Stratolaunch - that they are trying to sell it off:

https://twitter.com/spacecom/status/1132470532757049345

Parabolicarc does have sources around there, so I think this is credible.

[libra]

Hot damn. Looks like Allen heirs consider Stratolaunch as a vanity project and a liability ?

[jstrotha0975]

There are some rumors going around Mojave regarding Stratolaunch - that they are trying to sell it off:

https://twitter.com/spacecom/status/1132470532757049345

Parabolicarc does have sources around there, so I think this is credible.

NGIS may be looking to fly the X-34 again. Could be a replacement for Pegasus and Stratolaunch a replacement for the L1011. NG owns Scaled Composites. Pure speculation.

[Welsh Dragon]

There are some rumors going around Mojave regarding Stratolaunch - that they are trying to sell it off:
<snip>

Is anybody actually surprised by this? I mean by the time we'd reached the "Let's strap three Pegasuses (Pegasi? Pegasus') to it" stage, I couldn't really take them seriously any more.

[Robotbeat]

I AM surprised that Paul Allen didn’t set up his trust to honor his wishes better.

[russianhalo117]

I AM surprised that Paul Allen didn’t set up his trust to honor his wishes better.

A lawyer friend checked it out and doesn't look to be fully complete whereas the Microsoft part of his life is a separate and well managed trust with a designated executor and team.

[meekGee]

I AM surprised that Paul Allen didn’t set up his trust to honor his wishes better.

A lawyer friend checked it out and doesn't look to be fully complete whereas the Microsoft part of his life is a separate and well managed trust with a designated executor and team.

But even supposed he had - what then?  What would any amount of money had done for it?

Air launch is just not such a great idea, and the rich benefactor "business model" has yet to prove itself even once.

[russianhalo117]

There are some rumors going around Mojave regarding Stratolaunch - that they are trying to sell it off:

https://twitter.com/spacecom/status/1132470532757049345

Parabolicarc does have sources around there, so I think this is credible.

NGIS may be looking to fly the X-34 again. Could be a replacement for Pegasus and Stratolaunch a replacement for the L1011. NG owns Scaled Composites. Pure speculation.

NGAS (NGAS (ex TRW and sub unit Scaled Composites) is a separate unit from NGIS) also has active shares, interest, and funding in several aspects of Stratolaunch including the PGA engine family which the heirs shelved immediately after Paul's death.

[Robotbeat]

I AM surprised that Paul Allen didn’t set up his trust to honor his wishes better.

A lawyer friend checked it out and doesn't look to be fully complete whereas the Microsoft part of his life is a separate and well managed trust with a designated executor and team.

But even supposed he had - what then?  What would any amount of money had done for it?

Air launch is just not such a great idea, and the rich benefactor "business model" has yet to prove itself even once.

Air launch is useful for launch-on-need, and not much more. The performance boost is nice, but not the reason why you'd do it.

It's possible we might want launch-on-need.

Jon Goff keeps arguing about how important space debris management is even for low altitude. Of course, if you're in such a low altitude that you deorbit in a year or so, the only point in having a deorbit tug is if you can deorbit it even faster. So maybe that's one of those niche applications it could make sense.

I'm being generous.

[JEF_300]

NGAS (NGAS (ex TRW and sub unit Scaled Composites) is a separate unit from NGIS) also has active shares, interest, and funding in several aspects of Stratolaunch including the PGA engine family which the heirs shelved immediately after Paul's death.

I forgot how incredibly much I want the PGA engine to exist. It's like a cheaper, additively manufactured SSME the size of a Merlin 1D! The things that can be done with that...

[Star One]

There are some rumors going around Mojave regarding Stratolaunch - that they are trying to sell it off:

https://twitter.com/spacecom/status/1132470532757049345

Parabolicarc does have sources around there, so I think this is credible.

All I say is I shall personally wait to see this confirmed independently rather than rely on that particular source.

[jongoff]

I AM surprised that Paul Allen didn’t set up his trust to honor his wishes better.

It's kind of depressing. We had just started reaching out to Stratolaunch on some projects. I had hope for a few weeks that they could be like ULA but without the parent companies. I mean they were working on a decent sized LOX/LH2 upper stage, were open to in-space refueling, and were owned by someone who wanted them to be successful.

I was bummed at how fast they pulled the plug on Stratolaunch once Paul Allen was dead.

~Jon

[jongoff]

I AM surprised that Paul Allen didn’t set up his trust to honor his wishes better.

A lawyer friend checked it out and doesn't look to be fully complete whereas the Microsoft part of his life is a separate and well managed trust with a designated executor and team.

But even supposed he had - what then?  What would any amount of money had done for it?

Air launch is just not such a great idea, and the rich benefactor "business model" has yet to prove itself even once.

Air launch is useful for launch-on-need, and not much more. The performance boost is nice, but not the reason why you'd do it.

It's possible we might want launch-on-need.

Jon Goff keeps arguing about how important space debris management is even for low altitude. Of course, if you're in such a low altitude that you deorbit in a year or so, the only point in having a deorbit tug is if you can deorbit it even faster. So maybe that's one of those niche applications it could make sense.

I'm being generous.

There's also the ability to easily do first orbit rendezvous, and the ability to do glideforward RTLS recovery of the first stage without needing a drone ship. And if you are bold enough, there are ways to get a hefty performance benefit out of air launch.

~Jon

[Gliderflyer]

There's also the ability to easily do first orbit rendezvous, and the ability to do glideforward RTLS recovery of the first stage without needing a drone ship. And if you are bold enough, there are ways to get a hefty performance benefit out of air launch.

~Jon

Lower q is another one that gets overlooked a lot. It doesn't matter as much when your vehicle is a tube, but once wings get involved there is a big difference between 200 knots indicated and 400 knots indicated.

[libra]

I AM surprised that Paul Allen didn’t set up his trust to honor his wishes better.

A lawyer friend checked it out and doesn't look to be fully complete whereas the Microsoft part of his life is a separate and well managed trust with a designated executor and team.

But even supposed he had - what then?  What would any amount of money had done for it?

Air launch is just not such a great idea, and the rich benefactor "business model" has yet to prove itself even once.

Air launch is useful for launch-on-need, and not much more. The performance boost is nice, but not the reason why you'd do it.

It's possible we might want launch-on-need.

Jon Goff keeps arguing about how important space debris management is even for low altitude. Of course, if you're in such a low altitude that you deorbit in a year or so, the only point in having a deorbit tug is if you can deorbit it even faster. So maybe that's one of those niche applications it could make sense.

I'm being generous.

There's also the ability to easily do first orbit rendezvous, and the ability to do glideforward RTLS recovery of the first stage without needing a drone ship. And if you are bold enough, there are ways to get a hefty performance benefit out of air launch.

~Jon

1100 m/s from 50 000 ft and Mach 0.9, AoA 30 degree.

https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAECourses/aae450/2008/spring/report_archive/reportfinaluploads/docx/Report_Section_7.docx.