Meet Stratolaunch

Interesting. Guess the market is starting to get more competitive. The 500 million a year we give to Elon Musk for SpaceX isn't enough we need to finance this too.

This is actually the only government subsidy I can get behind. We need to collectively be reaching into space.

Stratolaunch, founded in 2011 by Paul G. Allen, is developing an air-launch platform to make access to space more convenient, reliable, and routine. We believe that normalizing access to low Earth orbit (LEO) has the potential to redefine our lives by creating more opportunities for commercial, philanthropic and governmental organizations to collect rich and actionable data and drive advancements in science, research, and technology from space.

I think people getting as close to space as possible can help bring a more enlightened cultural perspective to earthlings. This will enable people to detach from the petty small minded thinking that traps us into the current paradigm we experience as human travelers. Something I've always been fascinated with is the overview affect.

It refers to the experience of seeing firsthand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, hanging in the void, shielded and nourished by a paper-thin atmosphere. From space, the astronauts tell us, national boundaries vanish, the conflicts that divide us become less important and the need to create a planetary society with the united will to protect this "pale blue dot" becomes both obvious and imperative. Even more so, many of them tell us that from the Overview perspective, all of this seems imminently achievable, if only more people could have the experience!

I think this may be one of the key advances that will enable us to move safely into the future together as a species rather than alone as a monkey.

a reply to: toysforadults

We need to cut military spending first.

a reply to: dfnj2015

Totally unrelated.

Elon Musk creeps me out. His companies are not profitable and our taxes have made him wealthy. You’ll forgive me if I’m not interested in anything else he’s peddling.

a reply to: oriondc

This isn't Elon Musk company this is his competitor.

a reply to: dfnj2015

I couldn't agree more.
If we stopped playing world police, stopped our current 5 known military aggressions (or you know, stayed the hell out of Iraq), closed almost all our overseas bases, and bought 90 of military men and women home the leftover funds could do so much for our people.

Free Healthcare, Free College, Expand all space programs (industrialize space - asteroid mining, helium 3 mining on the mood, expanding humankind to bases off earth to ensure the continuation of our species in a worst case scenario (asteroid, super volcano, etc).

Honestly, in this day and age, Russia is not going to attempt rolling over Europe. China is not going to attempt militarily taking over the world (maybe economically though). Worst case scenarios would be NK attempting to unify South Korea by force, or China attempt to take Taiwan. If we choose it truly is against our interest to allow this (know we're bound by treaties), then we make it clear we'll respond with a full nuclear retaliation. We as a people (Earth) are at a point we can't fight needless wars much longer. We'll all die in a fire in one last bang. Time to find other ways to resolve our issues (from diplomacy to subversion). Large-scale WW2esk wars are no longer possible. Stop wasting our money. If one happens, we all die, and no one wins anyway.

~Winter

a reply to: Winterpain

what are you talking about? you are in the wrong thread

a reply to: toysforadults

I'm agreeing with the poster which you claim is unrelated. I believe we reposition our military, save trillions of dollars, and use that money to fund Space Expansion/Internal Infrastructure that is falling apart (while we spend our cash rebuilding Iraq or Afganistan), or use to fund programs for the 99% of the population of our country.

But in this specific thread, Reposition Military, Save Money, Fund this space organization/spacex/nasa/etc.

That work?

~Winter

a reply to: oriondc Hmmm you should read up on what he has done to repay a good amount of that money back. Also I don't see anyone else doing what he is doing. Boeing sure isn't trying to help in the space industry much nowadays.

originally posted by: Winterpain
a reply to: toysforadults

I'm agreeing with the poster which you claim is unrelated. I believe we reposition our military, save trillions of dollars, and use that money to fund Space Expansion/Internal Infrastructure that is falling apart (while we spend our cash rebuilding Iraq or Afganistan), or use to fund programs for the 99% of the population of our country.

But in this specific thread, Reposition Military, Save Money, Fund this space organization/spacex/nasa/etc.

That work?

~Winter

Ahhh ok. You brought it back around thanks.

Stratolaunch has been talked about a few times. It's a hell of a thing to see. They recently started low speed taxi tests at the Mojave Air and Spaceport.

Stratolaunch is impressive.

But I’d like to see something a bit more “out there”.

Years ago, played with the development of a small “rockoon”, a rocket launcher that is carried aloft by one or more helium balloons. Once the device achieves the desired altitude for launch, the rocket is fired remotely.

Think of a Patriot missile battery attached to a string and hanging from a weather balloon, and you get a rough idea.

The primary advantage is that you can launch a larger payload using less fuel, which means a smaller, less expensive rocket.

Also did some early work with remotely piloted, and autonomous lighter than air vehicles/airships.

All of which lead me to ponder the possibility of developing an autonomous extreme high-altitude airship-based launch platform.

The airship portion would be an aerodynamic delta shape, open in the center (think of three Zeppelin-like airships arranged nose to tail in an open triangle shape, but instead of three airships, it would all be one, very large craft, optimized for stability.

The open center of the craft would contain a launch gantry, which would hang, rigidly, below the lifting cells, serving as a kind of “keel”.

The rocket would be mounted vertically in this gantry and would be carried to the launch site at high altitude, maximizing its payload potential and orbital launch options.

A “stratolauncher” that actually launches from the stratosphere,

Or above it.

originally posted by: oriondc
Elon Musk creeps me out. His companies are not profitable and our taxes have made him wealthy. You’ll forgive me if I’m not interested in anything else he’s peddling.

The tax money SpaceX has been paid is for the 12 (so far) resupply missions to the Space Station (ISS). SpaceX is also under contract to develop a crew transport vehicle for the ISS. SpaceX's fee for resupplying the ISS and to transport crews to and from the ISS is in line with the amount of money it would cost NASA to do it themselves.

The rest of the money Musk spends on the Research and Development of things such as the Falcon Heavy comes out of his own Pocket (out of the company's pockets). NASA is not directly paying Musk to develop the Falcon Heavy, or the next-generation BFR, although NASA might be interested in using them in the future.

Granted, the money he is using does include profits from the Space Station Resupply mission contracts NASA has given him, but that's fine. Because NASA has shown a willingness to hire SpaceX to do specific jobs, such as the ISS resupply missions and future ISS crew transport missions, Musk is willing to put up the initial R&D money (his own money) in expectation that he might win more contracts from NASA.

This is a good thing that private industry sees the advantages of spending money upfront on space R&D. If private industry did not see any potential for money making in space, they would not bother with the initial Research & Development needed to have a successful private Space program.

Thw wrap this all up in context with this thread, other private industry space companies, such as Paul Allen and Stratolaunch, now see that it is a reachable goal to gain paying custommers in the private lauch business; THEREFORE, it is worth the up-front costs (out of their own pockets and the pockets of investors) to develop these technologies in the hopes that paying customers will soon come.

Private industry would not bother if they didn't see paying customers in their future.

a reply to: toysforadults

Hi guys, I'm an engineer out of colorado currently working on this project now. I'm a longtime fan of this site and glad to see something I'm working on finally make it here LOL. The taxi part of the system works flawlessly. We are currently building the "space ship" portion hence my involvement. I'll post pictures as they become available. I do just want to say nothing I've seen either in the lab or test ranges suggests any of this is "below-board". I know... "I'm a paid government shill." But honestly I'm just a boring engineer who works on cool #.

Thanks for the read and interest in my work!

a reply to: southornorth

Great to have someone on the inside to share their unique viewpoint!

Just be careful what you share. I'm sure some of that project is under NDA, and I wouldn't want someone to lose a chance in a lifetime position, for something as innocent as posting the wrong picture/giving one too many small details to a group of nerds like us

Keep us updated on what you can!

~Winter

originally posted by: southornorth
a reply to: toysforadults

Hi guys, I'm an engineer out of colorado currently working on this project now. I'm a longtime fan of this site and glad to see something I'm working on finally make it here LOL. The taxi part of the system works flawlessly. We are currently building the "space ship" portion hence my involvement. I'll post pictures as they become available. I do just want to say nothing I've seen either in the lab or test ranges suggests any of this is "below-board". I know... "I'm a paid government shill." But honestly I'm just a boring engineer who works on cool #.

Thanks for the read and interest in my work!

That's pretty awesome. I look forward to learning more about the project. Keep us informed.

a reply to: southornorth

Have you heard anything about first flight? I know that they just started taxi tests, but do you know if they have a target date yet?