Stratolaunch Rumbles Down Runway As Pentagon's Interest In Rapid Space Access Mounts - Stratolaunch.jpg ...

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The 385 foot wide, six engine Stratolaunch is creeping quickly towards its
inaugural flight, literally. In recent days there have been sightings of
monstrous space-launch mothership scooting around Mojave Air and Space Port. Now
the project's primary benefactor Paul Allen has posted some incredible footage
of the aircraft undergoing high-speed ground-tests before its first flight.

Allen notes in his tweet that the gargantuan jet got up to a speed of 46 miles
an hour, which is scooting along the ground pretty fast for an aircraft that
will tip the scales at 1.3M pounds once it is fully loaded. The clip of the
aircraft doing a run down the runway looks like something out of a science
fiction movie or a computer generated vaporware concept. You can read all about
Stratolaunch in our pervious piece on the system, its concept, and its history.

Stratolaunch has its eyes set on becoming operational and hopefully income
generating by the end of the decade. By the looks of it that could very well
happen—if things continue as planned. The aircraft is theoretically capable of
launching a range of rockets 2,000 miles from its takeoff point, with payloads
up to 13,500lbs being able to achieve low earth orbit and 4,500lbs for
geo-stationary orbit.




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