Misplaced Pages

Stratolaunch Systems

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

35°02′53.6064″N 118°08′31.9524″W  /  35.048224000°N 118.142209000°W  / 35.048224000; -118.142209000

#368631

68-563: Stratolaunch LLC is a private American aerospace company providing high-speed flight test services. It was founded in 2011 to develop a new air-launched space transportation system, with its corporate headquarters in Seattle . The company and development project were announced in December 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan , who had previously collaborated on SpaceShipOne . After ten years,

136-518: A twin-fuselage design and the longest wingspan ever flown, at 385 feet (117 m), surpassing the Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" flying boat of 321 feet (98 m). The dual fuselage and high-wing design allow for multiple launch vehicles to attach and release from the aircraft centerline. The Stratolaunch is intended to carry a 550,000-pound (250 t) payload and has a 1,300,000-pound (590 t) maximum takeoff weight . The carrier plane

204-483: A class of non-revenue producing flight, although SpaceX has also done extensive flight tests on the post-mission phase of a returning booster flight on revenue launches—can be subject to the latter's statistically demonstrated higher risk of accidents or serious incidents. This is mainly due to the unknowns of a new aircraft or launch vehicle's handling characteristics and lack of established operating procedures, and can be exacerbated if test pilot training or experience of

272-558: A decision on a new rocket for the Stratolaunch Carrier Aircraft would be made in late 2015. In 2017, Fast Company named the Stratolaunch one of the world's most innovative companies citing the air-launch system's size and ability to fly in inclement weather. In April 2017, Stratolaunch formally transitioned its name from Vulcan Aerospace to Stratolaunch Systems Corporation. In May 2017, the Stratolaunch

340-403: A decline in circulation. Webber and Taylor left the magazine two years later in 2002, and John A. Byrne, previously a senior writer and former management editor with BusinessWeek , was brought in as the new editor. Under Byrne, the magazine won its first Gerald Loeb Award , the most prestigious honor in business journalism. But the magazine could not reverse its financial decline in the wake of

408-679: A few weeks to years. There are typically two categories of flight test programs – commercial and military. Commercial flight testing is conducted to certify that the aircraft meets all applicable safety and performance requirements of the government certifying agency. In the United States, this is the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ); in Canada, Transport Canada (TC); in the United Kingdom (UK),

476-625: A first look at structural loads. The vehicle can then proceed with its maiden flight , a major milestone in any aircraft or launch vehicle development program. There are several aspects to a flight test program, among which: Testing that is specific to military aircraft includes: Emergency situations are evaluated as a normal part of all flight test program. Examples are: engine failure during various phases of flight (takeoff, cruise, landing), systems failures, and controls degradation. The overall operations envelope (allowable gross weights, centers-of-gravity, altitude, max/min airspeeds, maneuvers, etc.)

544-406: A joint trials team (JTT), with all three organizations working together under the umbrella of an integrated project team (IPT) airspace. All launch vehicles , as well as a few reusable spacecraft, must necessarily be designed to deal with aerodynamic flight loads while moving through the atmosphere. Many launch vehicles are flight tested, with rather more extensive data collection and analysis on

612-437: A large aircraft are: Specific calibration instruments, whose behavior has been determined from previous tests, may be brought on board to supplement the aircraft's in-built probes. During the flight, these parameters are then used to compute relevant aircraft performance parameters, such as airspeed, altitude, weight, and center of gravity position. During selected phases of flight test, especially during early development of

680-602: A mating and integration system by Dynetics . However, only the carrier aircraft was fully developed by the time of Paul Allen's death in late 2018. The carrier aircraft first flew in April 2019, at the Mojave Air and Space Port , reaching 15,000 ft (4,600 m) and 190 mph (305 km/h) during a 2 hour 29 minute flight. Stratolaunch underwent a change of ownership and direction when Jean Floyd took over as CEO in 2019, reacquiring staff and growing to 87 employees by

748-593: A new aircraft, many parameters are transmitted to the ground during the flight and monitored by flight test and test support engineers, or stored for subsequent data analysis. This provides for safety monitoring and allows for both real-time and full-simulation analysis of the data being acquired. When the aircraft or launch vehicle is completely assembled and instrumented, many hours of ground testing are conducted. This allows exploring multiple aspects: basic aircraft vehicle operation, flight controls , engine performance, dynamic systems stability evaluation, and provides

SECTION 10

#1732783522369

816-472: A pilot to predict the takeoff, climb, cruise, and landing performance of an aircraft. These charts, provided by the manufacturer, are included in the AFM /POH. Information the manufacturer provides on these charts has been gathered from test flights conducted in a new aircraft, under normal operating conditions while using average piloting skills, and with the aircraft and engine in good working order. Engineers record

884-585: A powered supersonic test vehicle for the first time. Stratolaunch is pleased to announce it has successfully completed a series of envelope expansion flights for Roc, the world’s largest flying aircraft and the company’s primary air-launch platform. The flight series occurred from mid-May to Mid-June, culminating in the achievement of a new operational altitude of 35,000 ft. and speed of Mach 0.63. All envelope expansion test objectives were completed to optimize future Talon-A mission operations in pursuit of sustained hypersonic flight. In May 2023, Stratolaunch announced

952-502: A single test flight for an aircraft is known as a Test Card. This will consist of a description of the Test Points to be flown. The flight test engineer will try to fly similar Test Points from all test plans on the same flights, where practical. This allows the required data to be acquired in the minimum number of flight hours. The software used to control the flight test process is known as Flight Test Management Software, and supports

1020-586: A specially trained test pilot , the data is gathered by a flight test engineer , and often visually displayed to the test pilot and/or flight test engineer using flight test instrumentation . It includes the analysis of a flight for certification. It analyze the internal and outer part of the flight by checking its all minute parts. Reporting includes the analyzed data result. Introduction Aircraft Performance has various missions such as Takeoff , Climb , Cruise , Acceleration , Deceleration , Descent , Landing and other Basic fighter maneuvers , etc.. After

1088-474: A top speed of 278 kilometers per hour. In January 2019, Stratolaunch announced it was halting development of its own air-launched family of launch vehicles. This followed the death of Stratolaunch founder Paul Allen in October 2018, who had been the source of funds for the capital intensive development program since its founding in 2011. In April 2019, Jean Floyd remained CEO of Stratolaunch. On 31 May 2019, it

1156-478: Is 28 ft (8.5 m) in length, with a wingspan of 11.3 ft (3.4 m), and is intended to have a launch mass of approximately 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) and be capable of runway landings. In May 2021 Stratolaunch announced the Talon-A test vehicles TA-0 and TA-1 were structurally complete. TA-0 completed separation testing in 2023, demonstrating safe release and controlled flight before its glided descent into

1224-536: Is an example of interpolating information from a takeoff distance chart: The make-up of the Flight Test Team will vary with the organization and complexity of the flight test program, however, there are some key players who are generally part of all flight test organizations. The leader of a flight test team is usually a flight test engineer (FTE) or possibly an experimental test pilot . Other FTEs or pilots could also be involved. Other team members would be

1292-411: Is approximately 16 ft. off the ground. The release system functions using explosive/expendable bolts that are triggered at the pilot’s direction when the vehicle is ready to be released.  As of June 12, 2024, the Stratolaunch carrier has flown a total of 20 times and prepares for continued flights carrying Talon hypersonic aircraft. As of March 9, 2024, the Stratolaunch carrier successfully released

1360-428: Is constructed mostly of aluminum with carbon fiber skins. Its structure contains approximately 10,000 bolts and 40,000 hardware components (bolts, nuts, washers, rivets). Although the design and integration planning spanned months, the physical installation of the pylon onto the carrier aircraft lasted 4 hours. There is approximately 7 ft. from lower wing surface to upper mini-wing surface. The bottom mini-wing surface

1428-445: Is essentially certain maneuvers to be flown (or systems to be exercised). Each single test is known as a Test Point. A full certification/qualification flight test program for a new aircraft will require testing for many aircraft systems and in-flight regimes; each is typically documented in a separate test plan. Altogether, a certification flight test program will consist of approximately 10,000 Test Points. The document used to prepare

SECTION 20

#1732783522369

1496-487: Is established and verified during flight testing. Aircraft are always demonstrated to be safe beyond the limits allowed for normal operations in the Flight Manual. Because the primary goal of a flight test program is to gather accurate engineering data, often on a design that is not fully proven, piloting a flight test aircraft requires a high degree of training and skill. As such, such programs are typically flown by

1564-495: Is fabricating two additional vehicles, TA-2 and TA-3. A successful flight of TA-2 would make it the first fully reusable hypersonic test vehicle. Further concepts, including Talon+ and a space plane , are listed on the company's website. In 2011, Stratolaunch Systems signed a 20-year lease agreement with the Kern County Airport Authority, Mojave, California, for the lease of 20 acres (81,000 m) at

1632-544: Is important to read every chart and understand how to use it. Read the instructions provided by the manufacturer. For an explanation on how to use the charts, refer to the example provided by the manufacturer for that specific chart. The information manufacturers furnish is not standardized. Information may be contained in a table format, and other information may be contained in a graph format. Sometimes combined graphs incorporate two or more graphs into one chart to compensate for multiple conditions of flight. Combined graphs allow

1700-678: Is owned by Mansueto Ventures and is headquartered in Manhattan . In September 2022 the Fast Company website, fastcompany.com, fell victim to an attack and racist messages were sent. The site was compromised and access to the site was used to send push notifications that the company identified as "obscene and racist." The site was taken offline for eight days as a result. In 2024 the company won The Society Of Publication Designers (SPD) silver medal for its “World Changing Ideas” and six gold medals for its projects, including “Selena Gomez and

1768-433: Is powered by six Pratt & Whitney PW4000 , 46,000–66,500 lbf (205,000–296,000 N) thrust-range jet engines, sourced from two used 747-400s that were cannibalized for engines, avionics, flight deck, landing gear and other proven systems to reduce initial development costs. The carrier is designed to have a range of 2,200 km (1,400 mi) when flying an air launch mission. The first successful flight test

1836-405: Is sampled during the flight of an aircraft , or atmospheric testing of launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft . This data is validated for accuracy and analyzed to further modify the vehicle design during development, or to validate the design of the vehicle. The flight test phase accomplishes two major tasks: 1) finding and fixing design problems and then 2) verifying and documenting

1904-828: Is the company within Vulcan that plans and executes projects to shift how the world conceptualizes space travel through cost reduction and on‐demand access. Vulcan Aerospace has its heritage in SpaceShipOne and oversees the Stratolaunch Systems project" Later in the year, in November 2015, Gary Wentz "stepped down as president and CEO of Stratolaunch Systems to join United Launch Alliance to lead human launch services" for ULA. Vulcan ended its contract with Orbital ATK in mid-2015 and indicated that

1972-478: Is the world’s largest operating aircraft built by Scaled Composites for Stratolaunch Systems to carry air-launch-to-orbit (ALTO) rockets, and subsequently repurposed to offer air launch hypersonic flight testing after a change of ownership. It was announced in December 2011, rolled out in May 2017, and flew for the first time on April 13, 2019, shortly after the death of founder Paul Allen . The aircraft features

2040-647: The Civil Aviation Authority ; and in the European Union , the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Since commercial aircraft development is normally funded by the aircraft manufacturer and/or private investors, the certifying agency does not have a stake in the commercial success of the aircraft. These civil agencies are concerned with the aircraft's safety and that the pilot's flight manual accurately reports

2108-506: The Mojave Air and Space Port to build production and launch facilities. The company headquarters, engineering, manufacturing, and operations are all in Mojave, including production, test, and operations infrastructure. By 2015, Stratolaunch had built a 92,400 sq ft (8,580 m) fabrication hangar and a 107,275 sq ft (9,966.2 m) assembly hangar located near Scaled Composites . The first of two manufacturing buildings,

Stratolaunch Systems - Misplaced Pages Continue

2176-601: The US Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base . The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School are the programs designed to teach military test personnel. In the UK, most military flight testing is conducted by three organizations, the RAF , BAE Systems and QinetiQ . For minor upgrades the testing may be conducted by one of these three organizations in isolation, but major programs are normally conducted by

2244-459: The "92,400 square foot facility [to] be used to construct the composite sections of the wing and fuselage sections", was opened for production in October 2012, two months ahead of schedule and on budget. Stratolaunch completed their second Mojave building, the very large hangar facility for the Stratolaunch Carrier Aircraft, in February 2013. On 31 May 2017, the first Stratolaunch carrier aircraft

2312-480: The "Company of Friends" which spawned a number of groups that began meeting. At one point the Company of Friends had over 40,000 members in 120 cities, although by 2003 that number had declined to 8,000. In 2000, Zuckerman sold Fast Company to Gruner + Jahr , majority owned by media giant Bertelsmann , for $ 550 million. Just as the sale was completed, the dot-com bubble burst, leading to significant losses and

2380-481: The Flight Test Engineer in planning the test points to be flown as well as generating the required documentation. Once the flight test data requirements are established, the aircraft or launch vehicle is instrumented with a data acquisition system (DAS), or data acquisition unit (DAU) and sensors , to record that data for analysis. Typical instrumentation parameters recorded during a flight test for

2448-503: The Flight Test Instrumentation Engineer, Instrumentation System Technicians, the aircraft maintenance department (mechanics, electrical techs, avionics technicians, etc.), Quality/Product Assurance Inspectors, the ground-based computing/data center personnel, plus logistics and administrative support. Engineers from various other disciplines would support the testing of their particular systems and analyze

2516-656: The Meteoric Rise of Rare Beauty”, “YouTube’s Game Day”, “Brands That Matter”, “The Recommender Gift Guide”. It also won gold in the Best Of Science/Business/Technology category, and for the redesign of the magazine, which launched with the Eva Longoria issue. Launched in 1995, FastCompany.com covers leadership and innovation in business, environmental and social issues, entertainment and marketing, and, through its Co.Design site,

2584-524: The Pacific Ocean. TA-1 flew its first captive carry with live propellant onboard in December 2023. In March 2024 Stratolaunch announced completion of the first powered flight of TA-1, including a controlled ocean disposal. Future iterations of Talon-A will be testbeds carrying customizable payloads at speeds above Mach 5 with the capability for runway landings. Reuse would enable lower-cost access to sub-thermosphere hypersonic environments. The team

2652-504: The aircraft's performance. The market will determine the aircraft's suitability to operators. Normally, the civil certification agency does not get involved in flight testing until the manufacturer has found and fixed any development issues and is ready to seek certification. Military programs differ from commercial in that the government contracts with the aircraft manufacturer to design and build an aircraft to meet specific mission capabilities. These performance requirements are documented to

2720-580: The approval to acquire Virgin Orbit's modified Boeing 747 and its related parts and equipment, marking an expansion of the company’s air-launch fleet. The name “ The Spirit of Mojave ” refers to both the historic Spirit of St. Louis and the Mojave Air and Space Port community. This 747 aircraft was formerly a passenger airliner with Virgin Atlantic and in 2015 was purchased by Virgin Orbit to be used as

2788-595: The beginning of 2020. Dr. Zachary Krevor has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Stratolaunch, LLC since March 2022. Prior to becoming President and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Krevor was the Vice President of Engineering at Stratolaunch Systems Corporation. The project was started in 2010, almost a year before the public announcement was made. Development costs were initially projected to be US$ 300 million in 2011. Dynetics actually began work in early 2010 and had approximately 40 employees working on

Stratolaunch Systems - Misplaced Pages Continue

2856-421: The charts contain and how to extract information from the charts by direct reading and interpolation methods. Every chart contains a wealth of information that should be used when flight planning. Examples of the table, graph, and combined graph formats for all aspects of flight will be discussed. Interpolation Not all of the information on the charts is easily extracted. Some charts require interpolation to find

2924-423: The company completed construction of its 92,640 sq ft (8,607 m) carrier assembly hangar and operations facilities at the Mojave Air and Space Port . The carrier aircraft was originally projected to make its first test flight in 2015. By October 2013, the first flight of the carrier aircraft was pushed back until 2018 at the earliest, with the first flight of the air-launched rocket expected in 2019 at

2992-401: The company was acquired in 2019 by Cerberus Capital Management and has continued privately funded, operating as a non-traditional defense contractor. The project began with three components: a carrier aircraft being built by Scaled Composites (model Stratolaunch , called "Roc"), a multi-stage payload launch vehicle launched at high altitude into space from under the carrier aircraft, plus

3060-418: The data acquired for their specialty area. Since many aircraft development programs are sponsored by government military services, military or government-employed civilian pilots and engineers are often integrated into the flight test team. The government representatives provide program oversight and review and approve data. Government test pilots may also participate in the actual test flights, possibly even on

3128-450: The dot-com bust. Although the magazine was not specifically about Internet commerce, advertising pages continued to drop until they were one-third the 2000 numbers. In 2005, Gruner + Jahr put the magazine, as well as Inc. magazine, up for sale. Byrne contacted entrepreneur Joe Mansueto and helped guide him through the sale. A bidding war ultimately ensued, pitting The Economist against Mansueto's company Mansueto Ventures. Mansueto,

3196-452: The earliest. In 2014, Stratolaunch announced that it was considering multiple launch vehicle options over a range of satellite sizes, and that some development work on the orbital launch vehicle has been slowed down to focus on completion of the carrier aircraft. In 2014, Stratolaunch Systems was placed under the supervision of Paul Allen's new aerospace company Vulcan Aerospace, a subsidiary of Vulcan Inc. Beames stated, "Vulcan Aerospace

3264-585: The early orbital launches of a particular launch vehicle design. Reusable spacecraft or reusable booster test programs are much more involved and typically follow the full envelope expansion paradigm of traditional aircraft testing. Previous and current test programs include the early drop tests of the Space Shuttle , the X-24B , SpaceShipTwo , Dream Chaser , Falcon 9 prototypes , OK-GLI , and SpaceX Starship prototypes . Flight testing—typically as

3332-522: The first stage launch platform (or mothership launch pad ) for the air launch stage of the satellite orbital launch vehicle , the LauncherOne . LauncherOne attempted its first launch on May 25, 2020; the launch was a failure. The first successful launch (second launch in total) took place on January 17, 2021. After the Virgin Orbit parent company declared bankruptcy in April 2023, this 747

3400-585: The first/ maiden flight . Fast Company (magazine) Fast Company is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. Fast Company was launched in November 1995 by Alan Webber and Bill Taylor , two former Harvard Business Review editors, and publisher Mortimer Zuckerman . The publication's early competitors included Red Herring , Business 2.0 and The Industry Standard . In 1997, Fast Company created an online social network,

3468-490: The flight crew is lacking For this reason, flight testing is carefully planned in three phases: preparation; execution; and analysis and reporting. For both commercial and military aircraft, as well as launch vehicles, flight test preparation begins well before the test vehicle is ready to fly. Initially what needs to be tested must be defined, from which the Flight Test Engineers prepare the test plan, which

SECTION 50

#1732783522369

3536-460: The flight data and create performance charts based on the behavior of the aircraft during the test flights. By using these performance charts, a pilot can determine the runway length needed to take off and land, the amount of fuel to be used during flight, and the time required to arrive at the destination. The data from the charts will not be accurate if the aircraft is not in good working order or when operating under adverse conditions. Always consider

3604-431: The flight testing, the aircraft has to be certified according to their regulations like FAA 's FAR , EASA 's Certification Specifications (CS) and India 's Air Staff Compliance and Requirements. 1. Flight Performance Evaluation and documentation 2. Reduction of Flight performance to standard conditions 3. Preparation and Validation of Performance Charts for Operating Data Manual (ODM) Performance charts allow

3672-430: The information for specific flight conditions. Interpolating information means that by taking the known information, a pilot can compute intermediate information. However, pilots sometimes round off values from charts to a more conservative figure. Using values that reflect slightly more adverse conditions provides a reasonable estimate of performance information and gives a slight margin of safety. The following illustration

3740-574: The intersection of business and design, from architecture to electronics, consumer products to fashion. Fast Company also previously operated sites called Co.Labs, Co.Exist, and Co.Create. Co.Exist and Co.Create were rebranded as Ideas and Entertainment sections in 2017. Co.Labs was shut down in early 2015. Fast Company operates several franchises, such as "Most Innovative Companies", "World Changing Ideas", "Innovation By Design", and "Most Creative People". For its Most Innovative Companies feature, Fast Company assesses thousands of businesses to create

3808-471: The manufacturer in the aircraft specification and the details of the flight test program (among many other program requirements) are spelled out in the statement of work. In this case, the government is the customer and has a direct stake in the aircraft's ability to perform the mission. Since the government is funding the program, it is more involved in the aircraft design and testing from early-on. Often military test pilots and engineers are integrated as part of

3876-529: The manufacturer's flight test team, even before first flight. The final phase of the military aircraft flight test is the Operational Test (OT). OT is conducted by a government-only test team with the dictate to certify that the aircraft is suitable and effective to carry out the intended mission. Flight testing of military aircraft is often conducted at military flight test facilities. The US Navy tests aircraft at Naval Air Station Patuxent River and

3944-439: The necessity to compensate for the performance numbers if the aircraft is not in good working order or piloting skills are below average. Each aircraft performs differently and, therefore, has different performance numbers. Compute the performance of the aircraft prior to every flight, as every flight is different. Every chart is based on certain conditions and contains notes on how to adapt the information for flight conditions. It

4012-537: The only bidder who promised to keep Fast Company alive, ultimately won the contest, buying both magazine titles for $ 35 million. Under former editor-in-chief Robert Safian, Fast Company was named by the American Society of Magazine Editors as the magazine of the year in 2014. Stephanie Mehta was named editor-in-chief in February 2018, having previously worked at Vanity Fair , Bloomberg , Fortune , and The Wall Street Journal . Fast Company

4080-447: The pilot to predict aircraft performance for variations in density altitude, weight, and winds all on one chart. Because of the vast amount of information that can be extracted from this type of chart, it is important to be very accurate in reading the chart. A small error in the beginning can lead to a large error at the end. The remainder of this section covers performance information for aircraft in general and discusses what information

4148-527: The project as of December 2011. Dynetics was cited as "responsible for the total systems engineering, integration and testing, which includes aerodynamics, loads, and interfaces". It was announced in 2011 that SpaceX was also already working on the design for the rocket-powered space vehicle components of the system, the Falcon 9 Air . The collaboration with SpaceX ended by 2012. In a 2015 interview, former president Chuck Beames (2014–2016) explained, "SpaceX

SECTION 60

#1732783522369

4216-422: The vehicle capabilities when the vehicle design is complete, or to provide a final specification for government certification or customer acceptance. The flight test phase can range from the test of a single new system for an existing vehicle to the complete development and certification of a new aircraft, launch vehicle, or reusable spacecraft. Therefore, the duration of a particular flight test program can vary from

4284-472: Was a partner, and like a lot of partnerships, it was just determined that it was best we went our separate ways – different ambitions. We were interested in their engines, but Elon and his team, they're about going to Mars, and we're just in a different place, and so I think it was a parting of the ways that was amicable". Stratolaunch Systems completed its first 88,000 sq ft (8,200 m) composites production building in October 2012. In February 2013,

4352-466: Was performed on April 13, 2019. The aircraft flew for 2.5 hours, achieving a speed of 189 mph (304 km/h) and altitudes up to 17,000 ft (5,200 m). The carrier aircraft’s adaptable hardware attached to the center wing called pylon, was installed onto the carrier plane in April 2022 and is designed to carry and release Talon-A vehicles during flight. The structure is 14 ft wide, 19 ft long, and 10 ft tall and weighs 8,000 lb when empty. It

4420-588: Was purchased on May 25, 2023 by Stratolaunch where the aircraft is undergoing modifications for its new mission. The 747 has flown 6 times with a total of 17.9 flight hours under Stratolaunch ownership. The aircraft is expected to be operational by mid-year 2024. Originally proposed in 2018 as the Hyper-A, Stratolaunch is developing a reusable, rocket -powered, hypersonic flight vehicle called Talon-A that would be capable of flying at speeds of Mach 5 – Mach 7 (6,100–8,600 km/h; 3,800–5,300 mph). The aircraft

4488-520: Was reported that the company would cease operations and that sale of its assets was being explored. In the event, the company remained in operation and posted job openings, including listings for test pilots, in September 2019. Stratolaunch rapidly grew their staff from just 13 employees in October 2019 to 87 employees by mid-December 2019. Stratolaunch currently has over 360 employees and contractors. The Scaled Composites Model 351 Stratolaunch or Roc

4556-484: Was rolled out for the first time to begin fueling tests, the first of many ground tests. In December 2017, the Stratolaunch was rolled out for the first taxi test on the runway at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California . On April 13, 2019, Stratolaunch took to the air for the first time and flew for two and a half hours from the Mojave Air and Space Port. The flight reached a maximum altitude of 4,570 meters and

4624-505: Was towed from the Stratolaunch Mojave hangar to begin ground testing. Flight test Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing behaviour and systems of aircraft or testing the atmospheric phase of launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft . Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. Data

#368631