Launching a spacecraft from the air

In the near future, spacecraft-carrying missiles will be launched from the air instead of from the ground today.

Seven years ago, SpaceShipOne, the first manned private spacecraft, entered the Earth's atmosphere. This is the result of a partnership of philanthropist Paul G. Allen with aviation expert Burt Rutan. The work brought glory to the two producers with the Ansari X PRIZE award later.

Today, in the post-shuttle era, these two famous figures continue to create a reusable system capable of simultaneously launching two manned and unmanned spacecraft, instead of on the ground. like nowadays. The project was announced on December 13 in Seattle.

Aerial rocket launch system of Stratolaunch Systems will
Take the largest ship ever into orbit. (Source: Gizmag)

The system consists of 3 main parts: 1 large aircraft with wingspan longer than 116m, weighs 544,311kg and has 747 engines; a multi-storey rocket worth $ 760,000, weighs 222,260kg. The missile will be burned immediately after detaching the aircraft carrying the spacecraft into space. Finally, the integrated system allows aircraft to operate and release safety loads.

The aircraft is assembled at Stratolaunch dedicated hangar but will soon be installed at the Airport and Mojave Space. Scientists hope the first flight will be made in the next few years.

According to the company, the cost of launching missiles with the new system will be lower, safer, more flexible and more responsive than today's ground-launched missiles. The launch time is also faster because it allows more missiles to be launched into space for a certain amount of time.

The aircraft will act as a large airport or space station, like the Kennedy Space Center. The runway serving this space station is at least 3,658m long.