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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3192 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Inside Stratolaunch

I was going to post this. The issue I have with the concept is that the delta in velocity is not that much. This plane will fly, at best, 600MPH. Orbit is 18,000. Now I am going to assume that you do gain some benefits in getting over the air resulting in less drag and that the fuel needed to overcome the inertia of starting at 0 is non-trivial. But even the Pegasus was a commercial flop and they were aiming for an under served market segment willing to pay just about anything to get to orbit.

When, not if WHEN, SpaceX can launch, recover, refurb and relaunch their first stages in less than 60 days, the economics of this plane will collapse.

What I see happening? Mount a telescope on that center pylon and fly to 70,000 feet. Sort of like SOFIA With the better engines and flight profile it has to be cheaper than flying a 747 with a giant hole in the side of its fuselage.





Wintermute  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    ...it has to be cheaper than flying a 747 with a giant hole in the side of its fuselage.

I really doubt it. This thing has to have significantly more dry mass than a 747, and it's got two extra engines burning fuel. Plus, that telescope is going to cause a bunch of drag no matter where you put it.

kleinbl00  ·  3192 days ago  ·  link  ·  

List of clients in need of a telescope mounted to a frankensteined 747 spruce goose:

user-inactivated  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

True, but what is the list of people who want to use an AN-225 but would rather mount a pod under this thing and ship over long distances? I doubt they would do that as it would devalue their special plane to simple cargo.

kleinbl00  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Of course, the (not "an") AN-225 does nothing but that. Yeah, dunno. The parameters for space launch and the parameters for carrying a space shuttle around don't quite line up.

user-inactivated  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Oh, shit there is only one of those. No wonder it takes 8 months to get to use it. Could have sworn there were two.

This plane looks amazing and is going to look awesome in the sky. But, and I think we both are on the same page here, it is a solution looking for a problem and a customer base. the more I think about it, I'm going to be shocked if this plane is in the air more than 2-3 years. Maybe they use it for airshow flyovers etc., but space launcher? By the time they get this up and running Bezos will have people on his rocket and Musk will be reusing his boosters.

kleinbl00  ·  3191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'll bet it simpers off into the corner like Virgin Galactic without ever taking to the air.