Stratolaunch announces its new family of launch vehicles that will enter regular service starting in 2020
The space company of billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen on Monday unveiled details of medium-lift rockets and a reusable space cargo plane it is developing, injecting more competition into the lucrative launch services market.
With its rockets, Allen’s Stratolaunch Systems Corp is trying to cash in on higher demand in the coming years for vessels that can put satellites into orbit. But his vehicles will have to compete domestically with other space entrepreneurs and industry stalwarts such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and United Launch Alliance - a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Seattle-based Stratolaunch, founded by Allen in 2011, said in a news release its launch vehicles will make satellite deployment “as easy as booking an airline flight,” though the first rocket launch is not slated until 2020 at the earliest and the massive airplane it is building to deploy the rockets is still in pre-flight testing.
Rather than blasting off from a launch pad, Stratolaunch’s rockets will drop at high altitude from underneath the company’s six-engine, twin-fuselage aeroplane - the largest ever built by wingspan.
That launch method is similar to the one being developed by billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.
Stratolaunch’s plane is designed to carry a rocket and payload with a combined weight of up to 550,000 pounds (250,000 kg), on par with what a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket can launch from the ground.
Around 800 small satellites are expected to launch annually beginning around 2020, more than double the annual average over the past decade, according to Teal Group space analyst Marco Caceres.
STRATOLAUNCH makes first roll-out to begin fuelling test - Image credit: Stratolaunch Systems
Stratolaunch announced plans for the plane years ago with the goal of flying Northrop Grumman Corp’s small-payload Pegasus rocket in 2020, and some in the aerospace industry expected Stratolaunch to eventually make its own rockets after partnerships with other manufacturers fell through.
“We are excited to share for the first time some details about the development of our own, proprietary Stratolaunch launch vehicles, with which we will offer a flexible launch capability unlike any other,” said Jean Floyd, Chief Executive Officer at Stratolaunch. “Whatever the payload, whatever the orbit, getting your satellite into space will soon be as easy as booking an airline flight.”
Stratolaunch said its new medium-lift rocket with a capacity of about 3,400 kg (7,500 pounds) would fly as early as 2022. It said it was in the early stages of developing a variant with a payload capacity of 6,000 kg. It made no mention of launch customers and declined to say how much it would cost to develop its space vehicles.
Stratolaunch acknowledged it was designing a reusable space plane to carry cargo to and from Earth and a follow-on variant could carry people.
The updated launch offering from Stratolaunch includes the following vehicles:
Pegasus: With its existing track record of over 35 successful launches, Pegasus provides dependable access to orbit.
Capability: 370 kg payload* for a single or triple configuration
Status: Flight proven, integration and testing ongoing with first flight in 2020
Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV): A new medium-class air-launch vehicle optimized for short satellite integration timelines, affordable launch and flexible launch profiles.
Capability: 3,400 kg payload*
Status: In development with first flight in 2022
Medium Launch Vehicle – Heavy: A three-core MLV variant with capability to deploy heavier payloads to orbit.
Capability: 6,000 kg payload*
Status: Early development
Space Plane: A fully reusable space plane that enables advanced in-orbit capabilities and cargo return. Initial designs optimized for cargo launch, with a follow-on variant capable of transporting crew.
Capability: Medium-class payload or crew
Status: Design study
*Estimated performance for a 400 km circular orbit at 28.5°
Paul funded SpaceShipOne, the first private spacecraft to carry a civilian into suborbital space and safely home again — an historic triumph that in 2004 earned the Ansari X-Prize. Paul’s founding of Stratolaunch seeks to build upon this success in space flight by achieving yet another breakthrough — the advancement of airport-style access to low Earth orbit, which Paul believes will open scientific and technological possibilities for humanity and our planet’s future.
Source: Reuters