Stratolaunch: Biggest Aircraft in History to Launch Spaceships

Assignment 4.4 - Research Blog 4: Unmanned Ground Vehicles

Miguel H. Quine

UNSY 501 Applications of Unmanned Systems

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

Stratolaunch: Biggest Aircraft in History to Launch Spaceships (Infographic)

By Karl Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist | April 25, 2016 07:00am ET

Paul Allen's Stratolaunch Systems plans to build a giant carrier vehicle in order to air-launch rockets to Earth orbit.

Billionaire investor Paul Allen has unveiled a new company, Stratolaunch Systems, to provide private rocket launches into Earth orbit from a giant aerial launch platform made up of the biggest airplane in history. The novel launch system will use a giant twin-boom airplane with a wingspan longer than a football field and launch a rocket and space capsule designed by the private spaceflight company SpaceX. 

In Europe (Chatillon, France) on February 24, 2016 was announced a similar project:

Europe Studies Automated Smallsat Air Launch System

Posted by Doug Messier on February 24, 2016, at 9:57 am in News

The ALTAIR project (Air Launch space Transportation using an Automated aircraft and an Innovative Rocket) is a European Horizon 2020 project coordinated by ONERA and involving partners from six countries. The goal is to demonstrate the industrial feasibility of a low‐cost launching system for small satellites. This research program will last 36 months.

The ALTAIR project focuses on an innovative solution for launching space satellites in the 50‐150 kg range into low Earth orbit at altitudes between 400 and 1000 km. ALTAIR will use a semi‐reusable “air launch” system, whose carrier will be a reusable automated aircraft, releasing an expendable launch vehicle at high altitude.

Comments about Air Launch System

The history of the USA tells us “The Boeing X-37, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), is a reusable unmanned spacecraft. It is boosted into space by a launch vehicle, then re-enters Earth's atmosphere and lands as a spaceplane. The X-37 is operated by the United States Air Force for orbital spaceflight missions intended to demonstrate reusable space technologies. It is a 120%-scaled derivative of the earlier BoeingX-40.” (USAF, 2010)

The X-37 was the beginning of the two wider implications to the military, and aerial/space industry: The Air launch Booster and the hypersonic technologies. After X.37, X.37A, X.37B, the US Air Force has been working in these two technologies, first with the platforms X-40 series and after in the platforms X-51 and the X-51 which was the last successful test of hypersonic system launched from one air launch system.

Air Launch System consists in launch a rocket, missile, or spacecraft horizontally instead of launching a payload vertically using a multistage rocket. An air launch system loft the payload to a high altitude, then is separated from the payload which ignite its own engine to carry it into orbit flight (Evans, 2013). The elimination of a bulky and expensive first stage reduces costs and pre-flight processing time.

The platform of Air Launch System, is a sophisticated or complex robotic system, the subsystem of control of the launch is autonomous and is the leader of control the conditions to release the spacecraft, missile, or aircraft to be launched. 

 

                                                                   StratoLaunch System

REFERENCES

Barrie, A. (2013). Air-breathing engine in Boeing's X-51A WaveRider may pave the way to Mach 20 planes | Fox News. Retrieved June 30, 2016, from http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/05/09/air-breathing-engine-in-boeing-x-51a-waverider-may-lead-to-mach-20-planes 

Encyclopedia Astronautica Quick Reach 2. (n.d.). Retrieved, 2016, from http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/quieach2.html  

Europe studies automated smallsat air launch system. (2016, February 24). Retrieved from http://www.parabolicarc.com/2016/02/24/europe-studies-automated-smallsat-air-launch-system/

Evans, Ben (2013). Virgin Unveils Air-Launched Booster, Confirms SpaceShipTwo Customers. (n.d.). Retrieved June 30, 2016, from http://www.americaspace.com/?p=22629   

"Fact Sheet: X-37 Orbital Test Vehicle". U.S. Air Force. 21 May 2010. Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. 

Stratolaunch: Biggest Aircraft in History to Launch Spaceships (Infographic). (2016, April 25). Retrieved from http://www.space.com/13926-biggest-aircraft-history-stratolaunch-paul-allen-infographic.html