Stratolaunch, the world's largest plane, speeds down the runway for the first time

[Hamartia Antidote]

https://newatlas.com/stratolaunch-worlds-largest-plane-taxi-runway-test/53615/

The gargantuan Stratolaunch dual-fuselage aircraft, with a wingspan of 385 ft (117 m), is one step closer to reaching the skies after it recently completed a second taxi test that saw it hit a speed of 46 mph (74 km/h) as it stormed down a runway in Mojave, California.

Announced back in 2011, Stratolaunch Systems is one of several companies working to develop an air-launch-to-orbit aircraft. After years of development the massive plane first rolled out of its hanger and into the public eye last year and since then has rapidly moved through a series of successful testing phases ahead of a first flight planned for late 2019 or early 2020.

The first successful taxi test took place in December last year as the aircraft traveled under its own power down a runway reaching a speed of 28 mph (45 km/h). This allowed the engineers to monitor systems such as steering, braking, anti-skid and telemetry. Now the team has ramped up the speed to 46 mph (74 km/h) as revealed in a new video showing the enormous aircraft barreling down the runway powered by six Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines.

While no specific date has been announced for the next stage of testing, if the engineering team does eventually get this beast into the air it will be the largest plane to ever take flight. With a wingspan of 385 ft (117 m), the aircraft weighs an astonishing 500,000 lb (226,000 kg) and is designed to carry payloads up to 550,000 lb (249,476 kg).

Back in 2011, co-founder of Stratolaunch Systems Paul Allen commented, "We are at the dawn of radical change in the space launch industry." It may have seemed like an overly ambitious statement seven years ago, but after watching this mammoth engineering feat speed down a runway in 2018 it now feels like an entirely apt statement. We can't wait to see this thing get up into the air.

Stratolauncher about to launch rocket

 

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

https://newatlas.com/stratolaunch-worlds-largest-plane-taxi-runway-test/53615/

View attachment 456724

The gargantuan Stratolaunch dual-fuselage aircraft, with a wingspan of 385 ft (117 m), is one step closer to reaching the skies after it recently completed a second taxi test that saw it hit a speed of 46 mph (74 km/h) as it stormed down a runway in Mojave, California.

Announced back in 2011, Stratolaunch Systems is one of several companies working to develop an air-launch-to-orbit aircraft. After years of development the massive plane first rolled out of its hanger and into the public eye last year and since then has rapidly moved through a series of successful testing phases ahead of a first flight planned for late 2019 or early 2020.

The first successful taxi test took place in December last year as the aircraft traveled under its own power down a runway reaching a speed of 28 mph (45 km/h). This allowed the engineers to monitor systems such as steering, braking, anti-skid and telemetry. Now the team has ramped up the speed to 46 mph (74 km/h) as revealed in a new video showing the enormous aircraft barreling down the runway powered by six Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines.

While no specific date has been announced for the next stage of testing, if the engineering team does eventually get this beast into the air it will be the largest plane to ever take flight. With a wingspan of 385 ft (117 m), the aircraft weighs an astonishing 500,000 lb (226,000 kg) and is designed to carry payloads up to 550,000 lb (249,476 kg).

Back in 2011, co-founder of Stratolaunch Systems Paul Allen commented, "We are at the dawn of radical change in the space launch industry." It may have seemed like an overly ambitious statement seven years ago, but after watching this mammoth engineering feat speed down a runway in 2018 it now feels like an entirely apt statement. We can't wait to see this thing get up into the air.

Stratolauncher about to launch rocket

Nice who said America is falling behind expect for the Chinese and their propaganda no one believes that and the Pakistan fan boys who believe anything China tells them to believe.

 

[khansaheeb]

Nice who said America is falling behind expect for the Chinese and their propaganda no one believes that and the Pakistan fan boys who believe anything China tells them to believe.

China has made it a mission that anything US does it will do better and bigger.

 

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

China has made it a mission that anything US does it will do better and bigger.

Ok then the whole world doesn't believe the lies of the Chinese maybe Pakistan well bend over for the Chinese but I don't think the rest of the world does, but whatever floats your boat.

I bet you believe that China is making a underwater train huh?

 

[khansaheeb]

Ok then the whole world doesn't believe the lies of the Chinese maybe Pakistan well bend over for the Chinese but I don't think the rest of the world does, but whatever floats your boat.

I bet you believe that China is making a underwater train huh?

China doesn't need to lie, its economy is the proof. It isn't occupying or attacking any country and go and see its development, then you will shut your mouth.

 

[Torch_v2.0]

Ok then the whole world doesn't believe the lies of the Chinese maybe Pakistan well bend over for the Chinese but I don't think the rest of the world does, but whatever floats your boat.

I bet you believe that China is making a underwater train huh?

There's only one thing that china can't do better than US ,
And that is Propaganda .

 

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

China doesn't need to lie, its economy is the proof. It isn't occupying or attacking any country and go and see its development, then you will shut your mouth.

Fake science, fake technology China the land of the fakes.

There's only one thing that china can't do better than US ,
And that is Propaganda .

Yes exactly you don't have to look too far about China's fake technology and science.

 

[Torch_v2.0]

Fake science, fake technology China the land of the fakes.

Snake's Behavior, Snake's ideology , US the land of Snakes
@khansaheeb How is that ???? After all we call it 'United Snakes.'

 

[khansaheeb]

Snake's Behavior, Snake's ideology , US the land of Snakes
@khansaheeb How is that ???? After all we call it 'United Snakes.'

 

[Sheikh Rauf]

Ok then the whole world doesn't believe the lies of the Chinese maybe Pakistan well bend over for the Chinese but I don't think the rest of the world does, but whatever floats your boat.

I bet you believe that China is making a underwater train huh?

did somone hurt you buddy?

 

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

did somone hurt you buddy?

Nah just calling out the lies of the Chinese just like I do with the Indians and the Pakistanis.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Stratolaunch planning first aircraft flight this summer

http://spacenews.com/stratolaunch-planning-first-aircraft-flight-this-summer/

Stratolaunch's aircraft prepares for taxi tests at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California in February. The company expects the plane to be ready for its first flight this summer after three more taxi tests. Credit: Stratolaunch Systems Corp.

COLORADO SPRINGS — Stratolaunch expects to conduct the first flight of its giant aircraft this summer as it develops a broad spectrum of launch services that will make use of it, the company said April 16.

Stratolaunch has performed two taxi tests of the aircraft at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California so far, most recently in late February. Three more taxi tests of the vehicle are planned according to company officials, speaking on background during the 34th Space Symposium here.

Those taxi tests will take place at progressively higher speeds. During the most recent test, the plane reached speeds of up to 74 kilometers per hour. The next test will reach speeds of nearly 130 kilometers per hour, with later tests going up to 220 kilometers per hour.

If those tests are successful, Stratolaunch expects to be ready for a first flight of the aircraft some time this summer. Officials said they are not being more precise about the date of that flight because of the uncertainties of flight testing compounded by the one-of-a-kind nature of this airplane.

Stratolaunch officials are confident, though, based on the progress during the previous test flights. The previous test was “highly successful,” the company said, and required no modification to the plane. The plane will be “flight ready” during the upcoming series of tests, with no additional changes expected before first flight.

While the plane’s first flight may take place this summer, the first launch using the plane is still some time in the future. Stratolaunch says the plane will first have to go through an airworthiness process by the Federal Aviation Administration, which could take 18 to 24 months.

Stratolaunch, after years of changes in the type of vehicle it would fly, is currently planning to initially use the Pegasus XL rocket from Orbital ATK. Flights will start with the plane carrying a single Pegasus rocket, but the company is still studying the ability to fly three rockets on a single flight, something it says is of particular interest to the national security community as a responsive launch capability.

Stratolaunch believes Pegasus is a particularly good choice for an initial vehicle since it was designed for air launch. The company plans to use a pylon like that used on Orbital AKT’s L-1011 aircraft currently used for Pegasus launches, so that the rocket requires no modifications to launch from Stratolaunch’s plane.

However, the company is making clear it has other uses for that aircraft than launching the Pegasus. Last September, the company signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA’s Stennis Space Center “to support propulsion, vehicle, and ground support system development and testing activities,” according to the agreement. That included use of an engine test stand at the center.

“I can confirm we’re working at Stennis Space Center on a project that is still in an early stage,” a company spokesman said in November about the agreement to do testing at Stennis. “As we’ve said in the past, we’re exploring a number of launch system possibilities to provide reliable access to space.”

In the recent book The Space Barons, Stratolaunch founder Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, said the company was studying a concept called Black Ice: a reusable spaceplane that would launch from the aircraft and with the option to be human-rated. Company officials at the conference confirmed that the Black Ice concept is still under study but offered few details about it.

Those officials suggested there were other launch capabilities under consideration that would fall between Pegasus and Black Ice. Stratolaunch plans to release more details about that “spectrum of services” in the next several months leading up to the plane’s first flight.

 

[timmy_area51]

 

[Hamartia Antidote]