This is not a fantasy project. This is going to be real: a gigantic 385-foot wing span, 544-tonne plane powered by six 747 engines that will serve as a flying launch platform for 490,000 pound orbital rockets. It’s the new project of Paul Allen and Burt Rutan. And it looks insanely amazing.

The new design works similarly to Rutan’s previous designs. The giant mothership, which brings memories of the giganormous Howard Hughes’ H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose”, will take SpaceX rocket launchers up to the stratosphere. From there, the mother ship will drop the rocket, which will fire up into orbit. The rocket will be able to deliver a total of 13,500 pounds of cargo up to orbit, including manned spaceships.

The airplane has a range of 1,300 nautical miles. The rocket will be a Falcon IV-derived ship. SpaceX is now working on the kind of fins that will get the rocket.

The so called ‘mothership’ will act as a flying launch platform for the rocket. According to the company, it will save everyone a lot of money. It will minimize the cost of the launch and minimize risks. They claim it will be more energy efficient and it will not depend as much on weather constrains as traditional launch methods.

Stratolaunch Systems’ CEO Gary Wentz—a former chief engineer of science and mission systems at NASA—thinks this system will “revolutionize space travel.” They also claim that, with this system, they will be able to offer human flights at a lower price point than what the Russians are currently charging NASA.

Initially, they will launch cargo to orbit, but not to the International Space Station. In the future, the system may launch human crews up to six people. At this point, however, they haven’t decided to do this yet.

SOURCE via Strato Launch