Stratolaunch

Stratolaunch Image Credit: Stratolaunch Systems Paul Alan, retired Microsoft billionaire, has teamed with Scaled Composites and SpaceX to propose creating the largest airplane ever built and launching Falcon rockets. The company is known as Stratolaunch Systems. The six engine aircraft would derive from Boeing 747 aircraft parts and a specially designed airframe from Scaled Composites. The rocket would be built by SpaceX, and derive from the Falcon 9, using either four or five Merlin engines. The system is expected to deliver 6,100 kilograms to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). NASASpaceFlight covers the details here, and Space News discusses the proposal here.

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