Stratolaunch aims for air-drop market

摘要

Noted for having begun the space tourist era with Spaceship One in 2004, Paul Allen and Burt Rutan have joined forces once again to develop an air-launched space transportation system capable of handling SpaceX Falcon 9 class launch vehicles and above. Rutan's Scaled Composites has been sold to Northrop Grumman but the team is back with an idea for a massive super-lifter with a 385ft wing space and a gross weight of 1.2 million Ib (544,000 kg). The aircraft would be powered by six 60,000 Ib thrust engines similar to those fitted to the Boeing 747-400 and adopt that aircraft's flight deck and landing gear.