{"id":18341,"date":"2018-09-27T19:57:11","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T11:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/paul-g-allens-stratolaunch-space-venture-is-lifting-the-veil-on-its-pga-rocket-engine\/"},"modified":"2018-09-27T19:57:11","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T11:57:11","slug":"paul-g-allens-stratolaunch-space-venture-is-lifting-the-veil-on-its-pga-rocket-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/paul-g-allens-stratolaunch-space-venture-is-lifting-the-veil-on-its-pga-rocket-engine\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul G. Allen\u2019s Stratolaunch space venture is lifting the veil on its PGA rocket engine"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_451030\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-451030\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-451030\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/180927-strat-engine-630x531.jpg\" alt=\"PGA rocket engine\" width=\"630\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/180927-strat-engine-630x531.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/180927-strat-engine-768x647.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/180927-strat-engine-1260x1062.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-451030\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s conception shows Stratolaunch\u2019s PGA rocket engine. (Stratolaunch Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The name of Stratolaunch Systems\u2019 home-grown rocket engine leaves no doubt about who\u2019s footing the bill: It\u2019s called the PGA, as in Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen.<\/p>\n<p>Stratolaunch has made glancing references to its in-house propulsion system development program over the past few months&nbsp;\u2014 for example, in its announcement about the full line of rocket-powered vehicles intended for midflight launch from its super-jumbo airplane, or in its proposed&nbsp;roadmap for hypersonic flight tests.<\/p>\n<p>But the PGA rocket engine took center stage today in a report from Aviation Week and in a series of photos released by the Stratolaunch team.<\/p>\n<p>Stratolaunch is aiming to start flight tests of its 385-foot-wingspan airplane at California\u2019s Mojave Air and Space Port sometime in the next few months, leading up to its first air-launch operation by as early as 2020. The first launches would use Northrop Grumman\u2019s Pegasus XL rocket, but the PGA would come into play for sending Stratolaunch\u2019s larger launch vehicles to orbit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith a 100 percent in-house design, the engine will support multiple configurations of Stratolaunch\u2019s future in-house launch vehicles to provide customers a more affordable price-to-orbit for payload,\u201d the company says in a fact sheet about the PGA. \u201cThe engine will improve technology development for the space industry, potentially enabling a more rapid cadence than current state-of-the-art tech.\u201d<\/p>\n<style>.fotorama1782802426035 .fotorama__nav--thumbs .fotorama__nav__frame{\npadding:2px;\nheight:64px}\n.fotorama1782802426035 .fotorama__thumb-border{\nheight:60px;\nborder-width:2px;\nmargin-top:2px}<\/style>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Jeff-Thornburg-1260x864.jpg\" class=\"fotorama__img\" style=\"width: 583.333px; height: 400px; left: 108.333px; top: 0px;\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tJeff Thornburg, vice president of propulsion engineering at Stratolaunch, strikes a pose in front of a test stand at NASA\u2019s Stennis Space Center. (Stratolaunch Systems Photo)<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/180820-strato.jpg\" class=\"fotorama__img\" style=\"width: 710.497px; height: 400px; left: 44.7514px; top: 0px;\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tArtwork shows Stratolaunch\u2019s giant carrier plane and several classes of launch vehicles, including Northrop Grumman\u2019s Pegasus rocket, a medium-class rocket and its heavy-lift variant, and a fully reusable space plane. (Stratolaunch Illustration)<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Preburner021-1061x1260.jpg\" class=\"fotorama__img\" style=\"width: 336.825px; height: 400px; left: 231.587px; top: 0px;\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tThe PGA rocket engine\u2019s preburner is due for tests at NASA\u2019s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. (Stratolaunch Systems Photo)<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Jeff-Thornburg-1260x864.jpg\" class=\"fotorama__img\" style=\"width: 93.3333px; height: 64px; left: -0.166667px; top: 0px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Preburner021-1061x1260.jpg\" class=\"fotorama__img\" style=\"width: 54px; height: 64.1282px; left: 0px; top: -0.0640905px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Preburner-Component-1260x840.jpg\" class=\"fotorama__img\" style=\"width: 96px; height: 64px; left: 0px; top: 0px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Injector-Test-06-1260x709.jpg\" class=\"fotorama__img\" style=\"width: 114px; height: 64.1476px; left: 0px; top: -0.0738095px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/180820-strato.jpg\" class=\"fotorama__img\" style=\"width: 114px; height: 64.1804px; left: 0px; top: -0.0902022px;\"><\/p>\n<p>The hydrogen-fueled PGA will produce 200,000 pounds of liftoff thrust. \u201cWhen you try to do something like single stage to orbit, or in our case air launch, you really have to have hydrogen performance to make it happen,\u201d Jeff Thornburg, Stratolaunch\u2019s vice president of propulsion engineering, told Aviation Week.<\/p>\n<p>Stratolaunch says that 85 percent of the manufacturing process will take advantage of additive-manufacturing techniques, also known as 3-D printing. That\u2019s aimed at reducing the cost of engine production.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe propulsion team is currently in the process of manufacturing and testing prototype subscale and full-scale hardware,\u201d Stratolaunch says. \u201cThe team has completed ignitor development, with injector testing currently underway. After this is completed, the team will perform a full-scale preburner test by the end of 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The preburner is currently at a test-firing facility at NASA\u2019s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Stratolaunch says.<\/p>\n<p>Among the rockets due to use the PGA engine are Stratolaunch\u2019s Medium Launch Vehicle, which is capable of putting 7,500 pounds (3,400 kilograms) of payload into low Earth orbit and is due for first flight in 2022; a three-core, heavy-lift version of the MLV that\u2019s designed to launch more than 13,000 pounds (6,000 kilograms); and the \u201cBlack Ice\u201d space plane, which would be built to carry a crew or a medium-class payload to orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Stratolaunch\u2019s air-launch system is meant to take advantage of its ability to deliver payloads to virtually any orbital inclination, from any location that\u2019s within range of a sufficiently long runway.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s similar to the SpaceShipOne system that Allen bankrolled a decade and a half ago in Mojave to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize, but scaled way, way up.<\/p>\n<p>The wingspan of SpaceShipOne\u2019s White Knight One carrier airplane, which is currently on exhibit at Allen\u2019s Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum in Everett, Wash., is 82 feet. The wingspan of Stratolaunch\u2019s plane, nicknamed Roc, is more than four times that wide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows Stratolaunch\u2019s PGA rocket engine. (Stratolaunch Illustration) The name of Stratolaunch Systems\u2019 home-grown rocket engine leaves no doubt about who\u2019s footing the bill: It\u2019s called the PGA, as in Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. Stratolaunch has made glancing references to its in-house propulsion system development program over the past few months&nbsp;\u2014 for [&hellip;]<\/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":[2672,5115,4405,2489],"class_list":["post-18341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-paul-allen","tag-pga-rocket-engine","tag-propulsion","tag-stratolaunch"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18341"}],"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=18341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18341\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}