Post by George H on Feb 6, 2016 6:52:11 GMT
A few days ago, I was conducting a though experiment regarding the short to medium-term future of space exploration and operations. I concluded that "cheap", disposable rockets would most likely be the workhorses for satellite, cargo, and utility operations for the foreseeable future, while atmospheric launch vehicles would likely be the preferred method of manned spaceflight delivery. My reason behind this conclusion were: less fuel required to reach orbit, the practical elimination of weather concerns at altitude, and flexibility inherent in mobile launch "platform".
And then today, I stumbled upon Scaled Composites proposed Stratolaunch project, which is a sort of amalgamation of two Boeing 747s, and 6 GE NextGen engines. It seems like a solid idea, and is supposedly scheduled for trials this year.
Check out this concept video from Scaled Composites:
And then today, I stumbled upon Scaled Composites proposed Stratolaunch project, which is a sort of amalgamation of two Boeing 747s, and 6 GE NextGen engines. It seems like a solid idea, and is supposedly scheduled for trials this year.
Check out this concept video from Scaled Composites: