Stratolaunch Systems - компания Пола Аллена

[Потусторонний]

Я как раз про нее. Чем тяжелее фюзеляж, тем меньше остается под ПН

[Петр Зайцев]

Можно просто интегрировать два самолёта с минимальными модификациями конструкции.

Там есть проблемы

 Во-первых у 747-го не хватает потолка и тяговооруженности на этом потолке, чтобы сбрасывать по-рутановски, и уж тем более с доворотом

 Во-вторых, крылья у него стреловидные, центральная секция нужна полностью новая, да еще нагрузки становятся сильно ассиметричными

 И последнее, у Scaled нет опыта работы с таким количеством алюминия, а автоклавы есть

[Петр Зайцев]

Да и кстати я тут наблюдал как CAF восстанавливает бомбардировщики из мелких кусочков. Практически весь самолет строится вокруг центроплана (я имею в виду что консоли начинаются у корня). Я делаю вывод, что центролплан 747-го разрезать нельзя, а он рассчитан на нагрузки от стреловидного крыла и вес в фюзеляже. Если его менять, получаем новый самолет, что собственно и имеем здесь.

Сдвоенный Руслан наверняка имел новый центр, собственно как и Мрия только консоли использовала.

У всяких сдвоенных Мустангов был большой запас по прочности и крыло прямое.

[Lamort]

Я как раз про нее. Чем тяжелее фюзеляж, тем меньше остается под ПН

Пустой Boeing-747 в грузовом варианте везёт тонн 150, значит пара тонн 300, особенно если топлива залить поменьше.

[Lamort]

Можно просто интегрировать два самолёта с минимальными модификациями конструкции.

Там есть проблемы

 Во-первых у 747-го не хватает потолка и тяговооруженности на этом потолке, чтобы сбрасывать по-рутановски, и уж тем более с доворотом

Уже есть двигатели с тягой 50 тонн, надо адаптировать самолёт под них.

Во-вторых, крылья у него стреловидные, центральная секция нужна полностью новая, да еще нагрузки становятся сильно ассиметричными

Это несомненно, однако зачем для этого переделывать весь самолёт?

И последнее, у Scaled нет опыта работы с таким количеством алюминия, а автоклавы есть

Вот это действительно "убойный фактор", хотя он может сперва показаться незначительным.

[Петр Зайцев]

Пустой Boeing-747 в грузовом варианте везёт тонн 150, значит пара тонн 300, особенно если топлива залить поменьше.

Это только возможно если ставить двигатели на перемычку, чего Рутан ловко избежал. И площадь крыла нужно сохранить.

[Lamort]

Пустой Boeing-747 в грузовом варианте везёт тонн 150, значит пара тонн 300, особенно если топлива залить поменьше.

Это только возможно если ставить двигатели на перемычку, чего Рутан ловко избежал. И площадь крыла нужно сохранить.

А есть вообще какие-то ориентиры по массе ракеты и взлётной массе всей связки?

[Valerij]

Stratolaunch carrier aircraft passes preliminary design review[/size]
By:   ZACH ROSENBERG LOS ANGELES 03:48 13 Sep 2012

Stratolaunch has finished the preliminary design review (PDR) of its space launch system, which it claims will be the largest aircraft ever built.

"The carrier aircraft conducted their preliminary design review on [27-28 August] in Mojave, California," says the company. "The team is currently reviewing the data package and presentation."

The aircraft will be used to haul large SpaceX-built rockets up to 9,140m (30,000ft) before air-launching them, allowing the rocket to carry payloads with greater efficiency than traditional, vertical-take-off rockets.

The massive carrier aircraft is modelled on Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo, which will one day serve as the first stage for a reusable suborbital vehicle. While WhiteKnightTwo is aimed primarily at the tourist market, the greatly scaled-up Stratolaunch carrier aircraft is meant to appeal to satellite manufacturers.

©Stratolaunch

While the carrier aircraft will be custom-built, it will incorporate engines, hydraulics and other systems from the Boeing 747-400, two of which have been purchased from United Airlines.

"We have completed the disassembly of [aircraft] N196UA and have relocated the carcass to allow the team to pick through the assembly during the build process. The majority of the carcass will be cut and sold for scrap," says the company. "[Aircraft] N198UA is in long-term storage and will not be disassembled before next year."

Configuration of the rocket, built by SpaceX, has not yet been finalised.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/stratolaunch-carrier-aircraft-passes-preliminary-design-review-376466/

З.Ы.
Народ, а почему тема такая "куцая?" Вроде было продолжение?

[Valerij]

Space Goose's Nest Grows in the Mojave[/size]
Posted by Doug Messier on October 5, 2012, at 4:52 pm in News



The Stratolaunch hangar continues to take shape at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. With the rear of the hangar assembled, beams are being put up for the front section which must be wide enough to accommodate a plane with a 385-foot wingspan.



Stratolaunch will build the world's largest aircraft from composite materials. It will use a smaller version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to air-launch satellites into orbit.



The venture is being backed by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen.



Stratolaunch will have two buildings at the spaceport. The first structure, which has been completed, can be seen on the left in the upper photo and in the foreground below.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2012/10/05/space-gooses-nest-grows-in-the-mojave/

[Salo]

Смена в ходе встречи SpaceX на Orbital:

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/stratolaunch-and-spacex-part-ways-379516/

Stratolaunch and SpaceX part ways
 
 By: Zach Rosenberg Washington DC
 14 hours ago

Space launch company Stratolaunch has parted ways with manufacturer SpaceX, dissolving a partnership dating from the project's inception.

"Stratolaunch and SpaceX have amicably agreed to end our contractual relationship because the current launch vehicle design has departed significantly from the Falcon derivative vehicle envisioned by SpaceX and does not fit well with their long-term strategic business model," says Gary Wentz, Stratolaunch CEO, in a 27 November email.

"Moving forward, Stratolaunch has engaged Orbital Sciences Corporation to evaluate and develop alternative solutions with the objective of arriving at a design decision in the early spring timeframe. The other segment contractors will continue to proceed forward in accordance with existing plans since their interfaces have been defined," he adds.

Despite the close relations, Stratolaunch's updated designs required "significant structural mods to incorporate a fin/chine configuration," according to Wentz. Initial concepts did not include a chine, which is a structural extension of the wing root along the sides of the vehicle, useful for providing lift at high speeds.
 
According to a source familiar with the matter, the design changes necessary would have forced SpaceX to make substantial modifications of their manufacturing process, which would effectively negate crucial commonalities with the company's signature Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

Orbital Sciences is tasked with "evaluating multiple concepts that utilize both new and existing components," says Wentz. Orbital confirmed the study contract but deferred further questions to Stratolaunch. Orbital Sciences is among the most experienced air-launch companies in the world, having built and launched the much smaller Pegasus launch vehicle from a modified Lockheed L-1011.

Stratolaunch is planning to build the largest aircraft ever built, a twin-fuselage aircraft capable of launching a large rocket. The SpaceX-designed rocket, a winged, five-engine modification of the Falcon 9, was designed to lift 6,200kg (13,500) into low Earth orbit. Should the project reach fruition, it will be by far the largest air-launched spacecraft ever built.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to questions.

[Apollo13]

А что им может предложить Орбитал? Что-то полностью твердотопливное, Антарес или что-то совсем новое?

[PIN]

Apollo13 пишет:
А что им может предложить Орбитал?

Правильный вопрос: "а к кому теперь еще сунуться?". Выбор-то не сказать, что широк. Мягко говоря.

[Apollo13]

Ну всегда же есть "эти русские"

[Дмитрий В.]

Apollo13 пишет:
Ну всегда же есть "эти русские"  

Ага! Союз-2 подвесить!

[Apollo13]

Циклон еще тоже хорошо

[Apollo13]

Вообще интересно насколько серьезные изменения потребуются для Антареса чтобы запускать его таким образом? И не съест ли в итоге утяжеление РН выигрыш от воздушного старта?

[Дмитрий В.]

Apollo13 пишет:
Циклон еще тоже хорошо  

Ядовит и непроизводим.

[Apollo13]

Дмитрий В. пишет:

Apollo13 пишет:
Циклон еще тоже хорошо    

Ядовит и непроизводим.

Зато есть запасы!

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/article/orbital-science-replaces-spacex-on-stratolaunch-project#.ULkrYWfvqBg

Orbital Science Replaces SpaceX on Stratolaunch Project

Nov. 30, 2012

WASHINGTON — After the exit of launch services provider Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Corp. as its rocket subcontractor, Stratolaunch Systems has turned to Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., to keep the world's largest air-launch-to-orbit system on track for a 2017 test flight.

"We have been engaging Orbital over the past few months and have them under a study contract through early next year with specific design deliverables," Stratolaunch chief executive Gary Wentz wrote in a Nov. 28 email. "They are currently evaluating several alternative configurations that appear promising. We expect more information to be available in the February 2013 timeframe."

What those configurations were, neither Stratolaunch nor Orbital would say. Huntsville, Ala.-based Stratolaunch had been banking on using a liquid-fueled booster fr om SpaceX. Orbital specializes in solid-fueled rockets. The first stage of the liquid-fueled Taurus 2 rocket Orbital expects to debut in 2013 relies on a Ukranian-supplied first stage powered by a rebadged Russian engine. While the company has extensive experience with air-launched systems, it has not built one with the payload-carrying capacity that Stratolaunch seeks.

Orbital's solid-fueled Pegasus rocket, which can loft 450 kilograms to low Earth orbit, has logged 41 launches since 1990. Only three of these were failures, according to an online mission history maintained by Orbital. However, Pegasus-class business has all but dried up. The single Pegasus XL launch of 2012 was the rocket's first flight in four years, and there is only one Pegasus XL mission on Orbital's manifest today: the April 2013 launch of NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph space telescope.

Still, Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski denies that the company had agreed to work with Stratolaunch in the hope of finding a project for the roughly 100 Orbital employees whose jobs would be at risk if the company cannot find more Pegasus customers soon.

"I don't think that's our primary motivation, to make work for people," Beneski said in a Nov. 28 phone interview. "Stratolaunch asked us to come up with some concepts, and air launch is something that Orbital has always been known for."

Stratolaunch is backed by billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and boasts a roster heavy with former NASA personnel. The company was introduced to the public in December 2011 at a press event in Seattle, wh ere Allen's philanthropic organization Vulcan Inc. is headquartered.

Stratolaunch plans to build an enormous air-launch system that, in its original configuration with a SpaceX rocket, was to be capable of lofting 6,100 kilograms to low Earth orbit or 2,300 kilograms to geosynchronous orbit. Scaled Composites, Mojave, Calif., was tapped to build the system's twin-boom mothership: a massive, 222,000-kilogram airplane with a 117-meter wingspan capable of flying 2,400 kilometers from a launch site before deploying a rocket. Dynetics Corp. of Huntsville, Ala., is building the mating and integration system that will secure the rocket to its carrier aircraft.

Technical Difficulties

As first reported by flightglobal.com Nov. 27, the main reason Stratolaunch and SpaceX parted ways was because SpaceX, decided it did not want to disrupt its Hawthorne, Calif., assembly line to accommodate the design changes required to turn its nine-engine, liquid-fueled Falcon 9 into a four- or five-engine air-launched booster.

"We agreed with SpaceX that to meet our design requirements, the existing Falcon 9 architecture would require significant structural modifications to incorporate a fin/chine and to be carried horizontally," Wentz said. "As we studied the design, it became apparent that SpaceX would have to make significant modifications to their manufacturing process to accommodate our configuration, which would have a pronounced effect on their business model."

A chine is an extension that joins a wing's leading edge to a craft's fuselage. Chines help generate lift at supersonic speeds.

SpaceX spokeswoman Katherine Nelson, reached by email Nov. 27, declined to comment for this story. SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk told the Royal Aeronautical Society in mid-November that "there's likely to be some changes in [the Stratolaunch] program" but declined further comment.

Wentz said that SpaceX and Stratolaunch are still closing out SpaceX's contract, which the company signed last year. He would not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

When Stratolaunch debuted, Allen, who also bankrolled the historic 2004 flight of SpaceShipOne, said he expected to spend "at least an order of magnitude more" on Stratolaunch than he spent on SpaceShipOne. SpaceShipOne, a suborbital spaceplane designed by famed aeronautical engineer Burt Rutan, won the $10 million X Prize in 2004 by staging two privately operated flights to an altitude of 100 kilometers within a two-week period. Developing SpaceShipOne cost about $28 million, Allen has said.

[Valerij]

Stratolaunch To Award Booster Contract to Orbital in May
By Dan Leone | Apr. 10, 2013

The Stratolaunch twin-boomed aircraft with an Orbital Sciences booster. Credit: Orbital Sciences artist's concept
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Aspiring launch services provider Stratolaunch Inc. is set to award Orbital Sciences, Dulles, Va., a contract to build what would be the world's largest air-launched rocket.

"We have requested a proposal from Orbital and are in the process of negotiating a design and manufacturing contract," Gary Wentz, Stratolaunch's chief executive, told SpaceNews in an April 10 email. "We anticipate an award in the May timeframe."

He declined to discuss the terms of the contract.

Stratolaunch, unveiled to the public in December 2011, is working on a colossal air-launch system that would launch a rocket from underneath the world's largest airplane — a twin-fuselage carrier ship powered by six jet engines salvaged from decommissioned Boeing 747s. Scaled Composites, Mojave, Calif., is building the carrier aircraft and is targeting a 2017 test flight.

The massive mothership, which has a wingspan of 117 meters, would be capable of flying 2,400 kilometers from a launch site before deploying a rocket.

Orbital has been working on booster concepts since November, and is expected to recommend a final configuration to Stratolaunch at the end of this month, Wentz said.

The details of Orbital's design for Stratolaunch have not been made public, but models and videos displayed at Orbital's booth here at the National Space Symposium offer hints.

For example, a computer-generated video playing at Orbital's booth shows Stratolaunch's carrier ship deploying a three-stage rocket that appeared to comprise both solid- and liquid-fueled stages. The core stage of the rocket also had aerodynamic chines — which join a wing's leading edge to a craft's fuselage to help generate lift at supersonic speeds — and tail fins.

Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski referred questions about the rocket's design to Wentz, who said only that Stratolaunch has not ruled out a booster with both solid- and liquid-fueled stages.

Stratolaunch is funded by Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who also bankrolled the hybrid rocket-powered SpaceShipOne that in 2004 claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize by staging two flights to an altitude of 100 kilometers within a two-week period.

Stratolaunch once planned to buy its air-launched booster from Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), and even signed a contract with the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company for work on the rocket.

However, that relationship was dissolved last year after SpaceX decided that designing a four- or five-engine variant of its nine-engine Falcon 9 rocket would be too cumbersome a task, considering the Falcon 9 orders the company is already fulfilling for NASA and a slough of commercial satellite customers.

The original Stratolaunch configuration with the SpaceX booster would have been able to launch 6,100 kilograms to low Earth orbit or 2,300 kilograms to geosynchronous orbit.

http://www.spacenews.com/article/financial-report/34789stratolaunch-to-award-booster-contract-to-orbital-in-may#.UW7NbaKLjhd
   
Информация очень интересная, поэтому размещаю перевод статьи Хромом. Я редактировал только заглавие статьи:
   

Stratolaunch собирается заключить договор на разработку ракеты с Orbital Sciences в мае.
Dan-Леоне | Апрель 10, 2013

Колорадо-Спрингс, штат Колорадо - стремясь пусковых услуг поставщика Stratolaunch Инк установлено присуждать Orbital Sciences, Даллес, штат Вирджиния, контракт на строительство, что будет крупнейшим авиационная ракета в мире.

"Мы запросили предложения от орбитального и находятся в процессе переговоров о разработке и производстве контракт", Гари Венц, исполнительный директор Stratolaunch, сообщил SpaceNews апреля в 10 почтовых. "Мы ожидаем, что награда в сроки мая."

Он отказался обсуждать условия контракта.

Stratolaunch, представлен общественности в декабре 2011 года, работает над колоссальной воздушного базирования системы, которая будет запустить ракету из под крупным самолетом в мире - двойной фюзеляж носителя корабль питается от шести реактивных двигателей спасти от эксплуатации Boeing 747. Scaled Composites, Мохаве, штат Калифорния, строит авианосец и ориентирована на 2017 летных испытаний.

Массивная Mothership, которая имеет размах крыльев 117 метров, будет способен летать 2400 километрах от стартовой площадки перед развертыванием ракет.

Орбитальная работает над усилителем концепций с ноября, и, как ожидается, чтобы рекомендовать конечные настройки, Stratolaunch в конце этого месяца, сказал Венц.

Детали дизайна Орбитальная для Stratolaunch не были обнародованы, но модели и видео отображаются на стенде Орбитальная здесь в Национальном намеки космический симпозиум предложение.

Например, компьютерные видео-игры на стенде Орбитальная показывает носителя корабль Stratolaunch в развертывании трехступенчатую ракету, которая, казалось, включают в себя как твердые и жидком топливе этапов. Основная ступень ракеты также были аэродинамические гребни - которые соединяют переднюю кромку крыла к фюзеляжу корабля, чтобы помочь генерировать лифте на сверхзвуковых скоростях - и хвостовой плавники.

Орбитальная представитель Barron Beneski переадресовал все вопросы о дизайне ракеты в Венц, который сказал только, что Stratolaunch не исключил усилителем и с твердым и жидким топливом этапов.

Stratolaunch финансируется Пол Аллен, Microsoft соучредитель, который также финансировал гибридных ракетным двигателем SpaceShipOne, что в 2004 году утверждал, что $ 10 млн Ансари X Prize, устроив два полета на высоту 100 километров в течение двух недель.

Stratolaunch раз планировал купить его воздушного старта ракета-носитель из космоса технологий корпорации (SpaceX), и даже подписал контракт с Хоторн, Калифорния основе компании для работы над ракетой.

Тем не менее, эти отношения растворяют в прошлом году после SpaceX решили, что разработка четырех-или пяти-варианта двигателя из девяти двигателей ракеты Falcon 9 была бы слишком громоздкой задачей, учитывая Falcon 9 заказов компании уже выполняет для НАСА и омуте коммерческих клиентов спутник.

Оригинальная конфигурация с Stratolaunch SpaceX ракета-носитель была бы в состоянии начать 6100 кг на низкую околоземную орбиту или 2300 кг на геостационарную орбиту.