Stratolaunch Announces Air Carried Launch Vehicles

a reply to: anzha

This thing is looking for a place to come down on.

a reply to: RadioRobert

you might not get amazing lift weights but i think this system is more about CHEAP $ to KG to low earth orbit and maybe launching more service type modules to the ISS or whatever other system uo there needs more fuel or a repair or a capture of an another nations satellite

but i really believe it is more about being able to launch a rocket with large launch windows due to the fact it can take off from a normal AF base(as long as they had the men and fuel there).

if you can put up a satellite very quickly and maybe even a bit less noticeable then a normal launch, it has so many applications like a mix of what in the very recent past would have the missions flown by very expensive aircraft and crews and now if you can imagining systems of various types and sensors ready to go kind of like a magazine of cheap and good satellites that would be very hard to shoot down and if you did so that would almost be a grantee of a major conflict(like US v. NK/RU/CHINA etc.

i imagine having the rockets all ready to go with a very modular system it might even be less money then say flying our green friend or some of the other interesting colored lights, due to fuels upkeep training OpSec and so on.

need a optical system send your prepackaged system, need SAR or communications or whatever just strap it on and off you go, and the most risky part of the mission is unmanned and wouldn't be a huge loss considering how many orbits it could get in. days of overflights of a new unknown satellite even if it got you a good 24 hours that would be amazing and alot less expensive than launching the very esoteric systems with men(or not) in it.


kind of off topic but Bigalow has his inflatable space station pods up in orbit right now right? i could imagine this being used as a last ditch rescue effort or maybe even a crew transport(1 or 2 men).

Source:

twitter.com...

a reply to: anzha

So now that Allen has passed, what happens to the hunt for Moby Dick?

a reply to: anzha

Look around there on Google Maps satellite view. Some interesting airframes...

a reply to: CrownCartwheelCreed

There are a lot of interesting organizations at Mojave, in addition to it being a storage yard.

a reply to: RadioRobert
Business as usual I think.Contingencies will be in place for things to keep going.

spacenews.com...

www.parabolicarc.com...

Last fast taxi I saw pics of was the twin Mustang restoration when it actually left the runway and flew.

a reply to: anzha

YES! We will have battlestars one day.

Really though, it's a good capability set to develop. I like.

a reply to: tadaman

Northrop should bit it as the KC-10 replacement if they do the KC-Y.

a reply to: anzha

spacenews.com...

People wondered what would happen after Allen died. Now we know. RIP Stratolaunch.

a reply to: anzha

The prospects never looked that good to me, to be honest. Still sort of sad.


Edit: read your link. They keep on about the ability to launch a constellation of sats in one go, but heavier conventional launchers can do that, too. We just saw a single Falcon 9 put up sixty-four minisats. This only makes sense if they need a short lead time and have the clusters ready to go. There's only one customer for that and I haven't seen any overt interest from Uncle Sam. Well, they are probably interested as hell, but maybe not to the tune of financing this thing and keeping it available. Maybe they have a Glomar Explorer sort of contract quietly with the Company.

a reply to: RadioRobert

It was Paul Allen's private space program.

However, it makes me wonder if they have another use in mind for the Big Bird.

They can still launch Pegasus off it, but...that has little demand, really.

a reply to: anzha

Bonuses for air-launch are a lot less impressive when you do the math. And you probably need to wait for a full load of three to undercut NG/Orbital. Only 14 launches for Orbital in the last 19 years... Plus you need to piggyback with another customer or have enough need for multiple of your own at the same time. I'm not seeing it unless they have a contract with a government agency.

a reply to: RadioRobert

NG/Orbital builds the Pegasus. They'll still get a cut if Strat launches.

a reply to: anzha

They're also still providing launch services. Is Moby Dick going to be cheaper to operate than the ten-eleven? How do you convince your customers to choose Stratolaunch over Orbital's launch capability?

a reply to: RadioRobert

All good questions.

Only way it would be better is if they needed multiple satellites put up immediately.

50 people are being laid off. ~20 will remain to get the big bird flying.