Aircraft Weighs Approximately 500,000 Pounds

Stratolaunch aircraft has reached a major milestone in its journey toward providing convenient, reliable, and routine access to low Earth orbit. The Stratolaunch aircraft has been moved out of the hangar – for the first time ever – to conduct aircraft fueling tests. This marks the completion of the initial aircraft construction phase and the beginning of the aircraft ground and flight testing phase.

Over the past few weeks, the fabrication infrastructure has been removed, including the three-story scaffolding surrounding the aircraft, and rested the aircraft’s full weight on its 28 wheels for the first time. This was a crucial step in preparing the aircraft for ground testing, engine runs, taxi tests, and ultimately first flight.

Once weight-on-wheels was achieved the aircraft was weighed for the first time, coming in at approximately 500,000 lbs. That may sound heavy, but the Stratolaunch aircraft is the world’s largest plane by wingspan, measuring 385 ft. – by comparison, a National Football League field spans only 360 ft. The aircraft is 238 ft. from nose to tail and stands 50 ft. tall from the ground to the top of the vertical tail.

The Stratolaunch aircraft is designed for a max takeoff weight of 1,300,000 lbs., meaning it’s capable of carrying payloads up to approximately 550,000 lbs. It will initially launch a single Orbital ATK Pegasus XL vehicle with the capability to launch up to three Pegasus vehicles in a single sortie mission. Preparations are already underway for launch vehicle delivery to our Mojave facilities, and the company is actively exploring a broad spectrum of launch vehicles that will enable us to provide more flexibility to customers.

The coming weeks and months will see ground and flightline testing at the Mojave Air and Space Port. This is a first-of-its-kind aircraft, so the company says they will be diligent throughout testing and continue to prioritize the safety of our pilots, crew and staff. Stratolaunch is on track to perform its first launch demonstration as early as 2019.

This marks a historic step towards achieving Paul G. Allen’s vision of normalizing access to low Earth orbit. "It is proud day for us at Stratolaunch, for our partners at Scaled Composites, and for our founder Paul Allen. We have a lot of exciting activity ahead as we enter the testing process, and we look forward to sharing our progress during the coming months," said Jean Floyd, Chief Executive Officer, Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, in a post on the company website.

(Image courtesy Stratolaunch)

FMI: www.stratolaunch.com