Stratolaunch Test
The world's largest airplane, designed to transport rocket launchers and satellites bound for low Earth orbit, hit a new milestone last weekend. The Stratolaunch carrier aircraft conducted runway tests on Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 25-26) at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California and achieved a taxi speed of 46 mph (74 km/h). Stratolaunch Systems Corp. aims to start test flights in 2019.
Stratolaunch Systems' Launch Vehicle Family
Stratolaunch Systems plans to employ a family of four launch vehicles, all of which will be carried aloft by the largest airplane ever built.
Meet: Paul G. Allen
Billionaire investor Paul G. Allen has launched a new company called Stratolaunch Systems to provide private space launches for people, cargo and satellites.
Drone's-eye view of the Stratolaunch Systems carrier plane
A drone's-eye view of the Stratolaunch Systems carrier plane as it rolls out of its Mojave Air and Space Port hangar for the first time. The plane has a wingspan of 385 feet (117 meters), longer than a football field.
Stratolaunch Systems carrier plane
The massive Stratolaunch Systems carrier plane for aerial rocket launches rolls out of its Mojave Air and Space Port hangar in Mojave, California for the first time on May 31, 2017. The aircraft will launch rockets from high-altitude.
Stratolaunch Taxi Tests: Take 2
On Feb. 26, 2018, Stratolaunch rolled its massive carrier plane out to the runway at the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California for taxi speed tests.
GALLERY ONLY Stratolaunch Systems World's Largest Plane
Stratolaunch Systems took its monster carrier plane out for a taxi test drive on a runway at the Mojave Air and Space Port on Dec. 18. 2017.
GALLERY ONLY Stratolaunch Systems World's Largest Plane
Stratolaunch Systems took its monster carrier plane out for a taxi test drive on a runway at the Mojave Air and Space Port on Dec. 18. 2017.
stratolaunch-speed-milestone
In recent tests, the Stratolaunch — the world's biggest plane by wingspan — reached new top speeds on the runway.
stratolaunch
The Stratolaunch double-bodied jet underwent its first test down the runway recently at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California
Burt Rutan and Paul Allen - SpaceShipOne
Aerospace designer Burt Rutan (left) and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen (right). Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, designed SpaceShipOne, the privately-built suborbital rocket plane that snagged the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004. SpaceShipOne was bankrolled by Allen. Rutan retired from Scaled Composites in April 2011.
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