Company Officially Denies The Claim By Anonymous Sources

Four people "familiar with the matter" say Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, which recently flew its Stratolaunch aircraft designed to complete horizontal space launch missions for the first time, say the company is set to close all operations. But a company spokeswoman said there is no announcement or news to share "at this time" and that "Stratolaunch remains operational."

Reuters reports that it has received information from the unnamed inside sources concerning the imminent closure of the company, and that its parent organization, Vulcan Inc., which is the late Paul Allen's privately held investment vehicle, has been making inquiries about the possible sale of Stratolaunch's assets and intellectual property.

Allen passed away in October at the age of 65. He founded Stratolaunch in 2011.

Northrop Grumman, which owns Scaled Composites, the main contractor on the Stratolaunch airplane, would not comment. Stratolaunch was designed in part to launch NGC's Pegasus small-payload rocket.

Stratolaunch is the world's largest airplane by wingspan. It flew for the first time on April 13, 2019 at Mojave Air and Space Port. The airplane has a dual-fuselage design with the center wingspace capable of supporting multiple launch vehicles in a single flight with a combined weight of 500,000.

Several Stratolaunch employees have changed jobs, going to companies like Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada Corporation, according to review of LinkedIn profiles by Reuters. Other still identify as current Stratolaunch employees despite having taken other jobs.

(Images from file)

FMI: Source report