{"id":19039,"date":"2017-03-09T18:54:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T10:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/billionaire-paul-allen-hopes-his-ginormous-stratolaunch-plane-will-fly-this-year\/"},"modified":"2017-03-09T18:54:58","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T10:54:58","slug":"billionaire-paul-allen-hopes-his-ginormous-stratolaunch-plane-will-fly-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/billionaire-paul-allen-hopes-his-ginormous-stratolaunch-plane-will-fly-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Billionaire Paul Allen hopes his \u2018ginormous\u2019 Stratolaunch plane will fly this year"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_316461\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-316461\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-316461\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/170309-stratolaunch-allen-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"Paul Allen and Stratolaunch\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/170309-stratolaunch-allen-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/170309-stratolaunch-allen-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/170309-stratolaunch-allen-1240x826.jpg 1240w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-316461\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Paul Allen stands on the wing of the giant Stratolaunch plane during a tour of the hangar in Mojave, Calif., where the craft is being assembled. The plane\u2019s tail is in the background. (Paul Allen via Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The world\u2019s biggest&nbsp;airplane is staying on track to take to the air for the first time by the end of this year, according to Paul Allen, who made billions of dollars as Microsoft\u2019s co-founder and is now spending millions of dollars on the Stratolaunch air-launch system.<\/p>\n<p>Allen provided an update on Stratolaunch and dropped hints&nbsp;about future space endeavors today during an interview at the University of Washington\u2019s Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science &amp; Engineering, where professors, students and VIPs celebrated Allen\u2019s $40 million gift to UW\u2019s&nbsp;50-year-old computer science program,<\/p>\n<p>Most of the interview was devoted to Allen\u2019s reflections on how computer technology has changed since he and his high-school friends took advantage of the UW\u2019s computer lab on the sly in 1971. But the billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist&nbsp;also was clear about his commitment to the Stratolaunch project, which was unveiled back in 2011.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"World\u2019s largest aircraft Stratolaunch to launch rockets into space - TomoNews\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mEuSznmDIOs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The key to the launch system is a twin-fuselage plane that incorporates parts from two Boeing 747 jets, with a wingspan that stretches out to a record-setting 385 feet. That\u2019s twice the wingspan of a 747, and more than the length of a football field.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is \u2026 I can\u2019t even figure out the right adjective. Is it \u2018ginormous\u2019? I don\u2019t know,\u201d Allen joked. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty darn big. The tail is 50 feet high, just the tail. It\u2019s probably the biggest carbon-composite vehicle ever constructed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scaled Composites, the company that built the SpaceShipOne rocket plane with Allen\u2019s backing more than a decade ago, is assembling the Stratolaunch plane inside a 103,000-square-foot hangar at California\u2019s Mojave Air and Space Port. \u201cThe plane is really coming along,\u201d Allen&nbsp;said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to hopefully be flying it later this year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After flight testing, Stratolaunch is destined to serve as an air-launch platform. The six-engine plane should be powerful enough to carry rockets weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds up to a high altitude, then drop those rockets to launch payloads into orbit from midair. Orbital ATK has agreed to build the rockets, and there could be other launch partners as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the unique things about Stratolaunch is that it doesn\u2019t require a fixed launch pad,\u201d Allen explained. \u201cYou can imagine systems that are very flexible for missions where you want to launch satellites at different orbits, from different angles. \u2026&nbsp;Then there\u2019s the fact that just doing an air launch gives you an advantage of probably 30 percent in performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=810936635474911232&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2017%2Fpaul-allen-ginormous-stratolaunch-super-plane%2F&amp;sessionId=51815a68576799fa5ae7faea3ed8c841825e24e4&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i178280333471775507=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Visited @Stratolaunch &amp; proud of amazing work my team is doing to bring world&#8217;s largest composite aircraft to life https:\/\/t.co\/jJX9oJj4zX pic.twitter.com\/PBPNczH19c<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Paul Allen (@PaulGAllen) December 19, 2016<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Stratolaunch was created to help fill a&nbsp;rising need for launch capacity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow you\u2019re seeing so many more applications of satellites to watch things happening on the ground,\u201d Allen explained. \u201cIn my case, I\u2019m interested in things like watching illegal fishing, watching the changes to our biosphere from orbit. \u2026 The demand for these small satellites is increasing dramatically. Who\u2019s going to capture the market? We have some unique approaches.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some tech&nbsp;billionaires, such as Jeff Bezos (the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin) and Elon Musk (the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla), have already been in on high-profile meetings with President Donald Trump to lay out their agenda for innovation. So far, Allen has kept a lower profile \u2013 but the self-described \u201cIdea Man\u201d hinted that he might share&nbsp;some innovations of his own&nbsp;on the policy front.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEspecially in the areas related to, perhaps, some space things, there might be something in the cards in the future,\u201d Allen said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing I\u2019m going to talk about today, but clearly, I think everybody who\u2019s on the frontiers of science sees the challenges the planet\u2019s going to encounter. \u2026 All of us who care about the world going forward would like to engage the government more.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_316457\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-316457\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-316457\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_1322-630x451.jpg\" alt=\"Paul Allen\" width=\"630\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_1322-630x451.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_1322-768x550.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_1322-1240x888.jpg 1240w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-316457\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen speaks at a 50th-anniversary celebration for the University of Washington\u2019s computer science and engineering program. The gizmo on the table beside him is a Traf-O-Data analyzer, one of the first computer projects that he and Bill Gates took on in the 1970s. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paul Allen stands on the wing of the giant Stratolaunch plane during a tour of the hangar in Mojave, Calif., where the craft is being assembled. The plane\u2019s tail is in the background. (Paul Allen via Twitter) The world\u2019s biggest&nbsp;airplane is staying on track to take to the air for the first time by the [&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":[2672,2489,4949],"class_list":["post-19039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-paul-allen","tag-stratolaunch","tag-vulcan-aerospace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19039"}],"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=19039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}