{"id":12897,"date":"2019-10-11T18:52:43","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T10:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/stratolaunch-under-new-ownership\/"},"modified":"2019-10-11T18:52:43","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T10:52:43","slug":"stratolaunch-under-new-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/stratolaunch-under-new-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"Stratolaunch under new ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stratolaunch\u2019s aircraft flew on its first \u2014 and so far only \u2014 test flight April 13 from Mojave, California. Credit: Stratolaunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stratolaunch said Friday that the company has \u201ctransitioned ownership\u201d a year after the death of Paul Allen, the company\u2019s billionaire founder who funded the construction of the world\u2019s largest airplane for an airborne satellite launcher.<\/p>\n

The company offered few other details in a statement released to media Friday. It was the first official update on the status of Stratolaunch since its huge rocket carrier aircraft completed its first \u2014 and so far only \u2014 test flight in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cStratolaunch LLC has transitioned ownership and is continuing regular operations,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cOur near-term launch vehicle development strategy focuses on providing customizable, reusable, and affordable rocket-powered testbed vehicles and associated flight services.<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch did not identify its new owner Friday, or details on the type of launch vehicle it seeks to develop.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s holding company, Vulcan Inc., was Stratolaunch\u2019s previous owner. Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft, died last October. Paul Allen\u2019s sister, Jody Allen, currently oversees Vulcan\u2019s holdings.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we continue on our mission, Stratolaunch will bring the carrier aircraft test and operations program fully in-house,\u201d the company said. \u201cWe thank Vulcan Inc. and Scaled Composites for turning an ambitious idea into a flight-proven aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch said it would not provide additional information on the company\u2019s status, or grant media interviews.<\/p>\n

The gigantic twin-fuselage jet built for the Stratolaunch venture completed a test flight April 13 over the Mojave Desert of California. The aircraft has been inside a hangar at Mojave Air and Space Port since the April test flight, amid reports that Stratolaunch\u2019s assets were for sale, or the company was closing entirely.<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch purchased two Pegasus XL satellite launchers from Northrop Grumman to conduct demonstration flights using the company\u2019s carrier aircraft, nicknamed \u201cRoc,\u201d as soon as 2020. Those plans have been shelved, and a Northrop Grumman official said earlier this week that the company has bought the two Pegasus rockets back from Stratolaunch.<\/p>\n

Northrop Grumman is also owner of Scale Composites, which designed and built the Stratolaunch carrier aircraft. The flying launch pad is powered by six engines and has a wing span of 385 feet, or 117 meters.<\/p>\n

The air-launched Pegasus rocket has flown 44 times since 1990. It\u2019s dropped from Northrop Grumman\u2019s own carrier jet, a modified L-1011 named \u201cStargazer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch had said its larger carrier aircraft could accommodate up to three Pegasus rockets on a single flight, while the L-1011 carries one at a time.<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch said in January \u2014 when it was still under Vulcan\u2019s ownership \u2014 that it was suspending its internal efforts to develop its own family of air-launched rockets to enter service after the Pegasus demonstration launches.<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch originally wanted to launch satellites using SpaceX-built rockets from the giant aircraft, then partnered with Orbital Sciences to develop a new air-launched booster. In 2016, Stratolaunch said it would instead use Orbital\u2019s existing Pegasus rockets for initial launches from the new carrier airplane.<\/p>\n

Last year, Stratolaunch announced a roadmap for its own rocket family, before halting those plans in January after Allen\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stratolaunch\u2019s aircraft flew on its first \u2014 and so far only \u2014 test flight April 13 from Mojave, California. Credit: Stratolaunch Stratolaunch said Friday that the company has \u201ctransitioned ownership\u201d a year after the death of Paul Allen, the company\u2019s billionaire founder who funded the construction of the world\u2019s largest airplane for an airborne satellite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,25,2212,554,2488,2489],"class_list":["post-12897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-launch","tag-mojave-air-and-space-port","tag-northrop-grumman","tag-scaled-composites","tag-stratolaunch"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12897"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}