World’s largest plane to launch aerospace and hypersonic vehicles. Stratolaunch, headquartered in Seattle and Mojave, designed and built a giant transport aircraft to lift missiles into orbit. The two-body aircraft with a wingspan of 385 feet is considered the largest aircraft in the world. Stratolaunch drove this vehicle for the first time in the only test flight in April. The company has agreed to launch Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL missiles from the aircraft, but these flights never took place.
With one or more launch vehicles in tow, the Carrier Aircraft departs. The launch vehicles are released after the Carrier has reached altitude, and it returns to base to prepare for its next mission.
Highlights
- The company has successfully manufactured and operated the Stratolaunch CA (carrier aircraft), which is deployed in the air by hypersonic aircraft.
- The aerospace company Stratolaunch Systems is changing its mission and developing hypersonic aircraft designed to redefine space and long-distance travel.
- Stratolaunch is 385 feet wide and has the largest wingspan. It can carry multiple supersonic vehicles at the same time.
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Efficiency
- With Stratolaunch, customers can place travel time on their schedule and conditions. If you don’t want to keep all the power, you can use other payloads to “float”. With their agile high-speed vehicles, one task can serve multiple customers.
- The fixed range recording is just fixed. A mobile launchpad can help you avoid delays. Unlike traditional ground takeoffs, Stratolaunch can take off from dozens of American runways. Their air-launch system allows them to avoid hazards such as bad weather and inconsistent fixed-range launch plans (which often result in costly delays or cancellations). In rain or sunshine, Stratolaunch will start your load on time.
- They can start 12 or more tasks per year at any time. Although fixed-range launches are usually planned years, Stratolaunch can test your payload months in advance, which means it is almost as easy to reserve space for the payload.
Features
- The innovative high-wing design with two fuselages allows the launcher to be deployed safely from the centerline of the aircraft and below the wings.
- The payload of the six Boeing 747 engines exceeds 226,796 kilograms.
- The enhanced central wing provides buoyancy, stability, and the hanger can support a variety of launch vehicles weighing more than 226,796 kg and can provide multiple payload channels at any tilt angle.
- The wingspan makes it the largest aircraft ever, and its span exceeds a football field, including the end area.
- The carbon fiber reinforced aircraft carrier center wing has a maximum load capacity of 1.3 million pounds and can support up to 500,000 pounds.
- To support its weight, the Carrier is provided with twenty-eight wheels to equally distribute the load. By comparison, Boeing’s 747 has eighteen wheels.
- The aircraft carrier is the largest aircraft in the world. Its side-to-side wingspan is more than three times that of the Wright brothers’ first flight.
- The carrier is 50 feet above the ground up to the top of its vertical tail, which makes it difficult for humpback whales to see above it.
- The 747 aircraft carrier has 6 engines and is powerful enough to travel more than 1,000 nautical miles and reach an altitude of 35,000 feet.
- Their hangar has the widest garage door in the world, and the hangar is so large that the area must issue a special scaffolding permit for the aircraft.
Comparison
| Carrier Aircraft | 384 ft (117.0 m) |
| Hughes H4 Spruce Goose | 320 ft (97.5m) |
| Antonov An-225 Mriya | 290 ft (88.4m) |
| Airbus A380-800 | 262 ft (79.8m) |
| Boeing 747-8 | 224 ft (68.4m) |
The world’s largest plane for the launch of space vehicles has a new mission to make hypersonic travel easier. Stratolaunch Systems, a space-focused aerospace company, announced that its flagship product-a six-engine, two-fuselage aircraft carrier-will be the launch and test platform for future supersonic vehicles.
Stratolaunch’s CEO Gene Ford said in a statement on the company’s official website that “Their hypersonic testbeds will promote the renaissance of hypersonic technology in government, business, and academia.”
Based on its original intention of launching satellites from aircraft, Space.com has reported that Stratolaunch will instead develop rocket-propelled aircraft that can repeatedly break through the sound barrier.
Although supersonic aircraft have been taken over by humans, such as the legendary Concorde and SR-71 Blackbird, the high-speed field is relatively new and has slower development. A properly functioning commercial supersonic aircraft can change space travel, make it easier to enter, and perhaps change the shape of long-distance travel on Earth.
When you take a page from a SpaceX book, you can reuse the ultrasound and return to the ground safely after each mission. The first aircraft deployed will collect valuable data and study the impact of hypersonic flight on future aircraft that can carry cargo and passengers.
Stratolaunch’s Discussion over Social Handles
The aircraft carrier Stratolaunch is powered by six engines and has a wingspan of 117.0 meters, which is larger than a football field.
“They are in the air!” The company posted a video on Twitter saying that the new aircraft took off from a runway in Mojave Airport, California.
Stratolaunch described the transport aircraft as “a revolutionary launchpad for hypersonic and aerospace vehicles.” It is designed for launch vehicles that can travel at supersonic speeds, which much higher than the speed of sound.”
The transport aircraft was originally designed to launch payloads into orbit. The company is currently focusing on research and testing of hypersonic speeds but continues to work to make convenient and affordable regular flights into space. Among the vehicles under development is a reusable space shuttle called “Black Ice.” The biggest plan started with the demonstration of the capabilities of a huge aircraft carrier. And the second test flight seemed to be heading in the right direction.
On January 9, 2019, the Stratolaunch transport aircraft completed the taxi test at a speed of 110 knots (219 km/h) and posted a photo of lifting the A-pillar off the ground during the test.
The first successful flight test took place on Saturday, April 13, 2019. The plane flew for 2.5 hours and reached a speed of 304 km/h and an altitude of 5,181 meters.
About Stratolaunch
Stratolaunch LLC is an American aerospace company that provides high-speed flight testing. It was originally established in 2011 to develop a new air transportation system headquartered in Seattle, Washington. In December 2011, it was co-founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Scaled Composites founder Bert Roothan, who had previously helped develop SpaceShipOne.