The Mega Mothership Space System From Stratolaunch

A new space launch system named Stratolaunch introduces the mega mothership

 Yesterday Paul Allen announced an ambitious space launch project called Stratolaunch... it takes the high-altitude mothership launch system concept seen in his 2004 collaborative effort with Burt Rutan on SpaceShipOne to a massive new scale.

 In fact, this mothership, to be built by Scaled Composites, will have a wingspan of over 380 feet making it by far the largest aircraft in the world based on wingspan. Possibly more amazing is that the largest aircraft by this measure is still the Howard Hughes H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose) built in the mid 1940's which has a wingspan of just a tic under 320 feet. This mothership will also come close to being the heaviest aircraft on earth with a projected gross weight of over 1.2 million pounds, but the An-225 at 1.323 million pounds and the A380 at 1.3 million pounds will have it beat on the scales.

 The basic launch configuration looks very much like a scaled up version of Virgin Galactic's sub-orbital system, logically so because Burt Rutan is directly involved in the Stratolaunch project. His success in using a mothership to launch a spacecraft at high-altitude in both the SpaceShipOne and Virgin Galactic systems is being taken to a new massive size that should make space access far more economical than traditional launch systems.

Rendering of the Stratolaunch high-altitude launch system in action

 It would seem pretty basic that it would require less energy and complexity to launch a spacecraft horizontally from an aircraft at 30,000 to 50,000 than it does to literally go directly against gravity from the ground with a ballistic launch system like we have used for years - like with the Space Shuttle. The amount of horsepower (and unimaginable amounts of fuel to feed that power) make the task incredibly difficult and expensive. High-altitude launching just seems to make a lot of sense. It also allows potentially faster turn around times with far simpler systems to prep (and the ability have multiple, affordable motherships), and it offers the ability to travel some distance once airborne to find the best weather for launch.

 SpaceX will be building the approximately 120 foot long spacecraft and multi-stage booster for the Stratolaunch system. Initial efforts will be focused on delivering unmanned cargo into space in the 10,000 lb class, with manned spaceflights taking place once safety and reliability have been proven. The timetable for all of this is obviously difficult to project, but Stratolaunch hopes to have the mega mothership built and flying by 2016. Former NASA administrator Mike Griffin is on the Stratolaunch board (as is Burt Rutan), and former NASA manager Gary Wentz is CEO/Chairman. Watch for more info and systems details to be posted in the future.

Learn more at Stratolaunch.com

Comments

[seerjfly]

Amazing ship, if that's Rutan's idea of retirement were gonna see alot more from him. Ironic to see some of the same NASA folks that snubbed Space Ship 1 on board.