Tag: Stratolaunch
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Stratolaunch conducts high-speed taxi tests on giant carrier aircraft
Last weekend, Stratolaunch Systems performed high-speed taxi tests of the world’s largest aircraft by wingspan. The tests represent continued progress towards the maiden flight of the plane. The Stratolaunch carrier aircraft will serve as a mobile launch platform for rockets including Orbital ATK’s Pegasus XL. Stratolaunch was founded in 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul G.…
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Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch space venture puts monster plane through first taxi test
The world’s biggest airplane taxis along the Mojave Air and Space Port’s runway during a ground test conducted by Stratolaunch. For a size comparison, note the pickup truck driving between the plane’s twin fuselages. (Paul Allen via Twitter) That’s one more not-so-small step for Stratolaunch’s giant airplane: The space venture’s founder, software billionaire Paul Allen,…
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VP Mike Pence visits Virgin Galactic and Stratolaunch space ventures in Mojave
Vice President Mike Pence sits in the cockpit of Stratolaunch’s mammoth airplane in Mojave, Calif. (Stratolaunch Systems Photo) Vice President Mike Pence made Mojave, Calif., the latest stop on his nationwide tour of spaceship development sites today, with visits to Virgin Galactic and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch hangar. Pence was accompanied by his wife,…
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Billionaire Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch space venture fires up its engines – all six of ’em
The Stratolaunch plane has three engines on each wing. (Stratolaunch Photo / Dylan Schwartz) The world’s biggest airplane hit another milestone this week with the completion of the first phase of engine testing at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port, according to Stratolaunch, the space venture backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Stratolaunch’s CEO, Jean…
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Air Force secretary hints at military space applications for Stratolaunch super-plane
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson chats with Stratolaunch CEO Jean Floyd (left) at the company’s hangar in Mojave, Calif. The twin-tailed airplane is behind them. (Heather Wilson via Twitter) Stratolaunch, the six-year-old space venture backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, says it’ll use the world’s biggest airplane to launch small satellites into orbit – but…
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Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch Systems brings monster plane out of hangar for first time
An aerial view shows the Stratolaunch airplane outside its hangar for the first time. The twin-fuselage aircraft is the world’s largest airplane, measured by wingspan. (Stratolaunch Photo) Six years after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen started up Stratolaunch Systems, the billionaire’s air-launch venture brought its humongous twin-fuselage airplane out in the open for the first time…
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Paul Allen’s Vulcan Aerospace is now Stratolaunch, with a redesigned website
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s space venture is rebranding itself and updating its website as it prepares to begin flight tests of the world’s biggest airplane. The venture was launched in 2011 as Stratolaunch Systems, but over time it morphed into Vulcan Aerospace, with Stratolaunch Systems as a subsidiary. Now it’s officially known as Stratolaunch, period.…
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Billionaire Paul Allen hopes his ‘ginormous’ Stratolaunch plane will fly this year
Paul Allen stands on the wing of the giant Stratolaunch plane during a tour of the hangar in Mojave, Calif., where the craft is being assembled. The plane’s tail is in the background. (Paul Allen via Twitter) The world’s biggest airplane is staying on track to take to the air for the first time by the…
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Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch teams up (again) with Orbital ATK on air-launched rockets
An artist’s rendering shows the Stratolaunch twin-fuselage airplane with Orbital ATK’s Pegasus XL air-launch vehicles slung underneath. (Credit: Vulcan Aerospace) Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch Systems has renewed its partnership with Orbital ATK on a platform that will make use of the world’s biggest airplane to launch rockets into orbit. Allen started up Stratolaunch five…
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Internal email: Paul Allen’s top space exec Chuck Beames leaving Vulcan Aerospace
Vulcan Aerospace’s Chuck Beames talks about spaceflight during a 2014 panel discussion in Mojave, Calif., marking the 10th anniversary of SpaceShipOne’s flights. (XPRIZE via YouTube) Aerospace veteran Chuck Beames is leaving his post as president of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s spaceflight company, Vulcan Aerospace. Word of Beames’ departure came from Allen in an internal email…