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Initially, Stratolaunch planned to work with SpaceX to develop a launch vehicle, notionally called the Falcon 5. The goal was to build a four or five engine variant of the Falcon rocket designed for air-launch. However, work between the companies ended in 2012, after SpaceX determined that too many modifications were required.<\/p>\n
As a result, Orbital Sciences (now Northrop Grumman) was selected to replace SpaceX. Unlike SpaceX, Orbital already had a proven air-launch vehicle in the Pegasus \u2013 a rocket with 29 successful launches in a row.<\/p>\n
Last August, two sets of Pegasus motors arrived at Bldg 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, per L2 information. They have since entered production for build up processing last month.<\/p>\n
Stratolaunch will carry the Pegasus from a carbon fiber aircraft designed by Scaled Composites \u2013 the same company that built WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) for Virgin Galactic. Like WK2, the Stratolaunch plane features a dual fuselage design.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/NSF-2019-04-13-21-34-40-716.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRoc on her test flight \u2013 via Jack Beyer for NSF\/L2<\/p>\n
While both fuselages on the carrier have windows, the three-person crew will fly in the right fuselage. The left fuselage is not human rated and thus will only house electronics.<\/p>\n
Astronomy
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The plane is propelled by six jet engines which have been salvaged from two 747s. Additional components from the 747s were also utilized, including landing gear, windows, avionics, and actuators.<\/p>\n
The wingspan of the carrier aircraft is a world record breaking 385 feet (117 meters) \u2013 long enough for the Wright brothers to complete their historic flight three times. Additionally, it also makes the carrier wider than the Saturn V rocket is tall.<\/p>\n
In addition to the massive wingspan, Stratolaunch has a carrying capacity of 549,290 pounds (249,153 kilograms) and a 1,000 nautical mile mission radius. These metrics will enable up to three Pegasus rockets to be launched in a single flight. They also create the potential for larger launch vehicles to be launched from the aircraft, as the plane is not exclusively designed for Pegasus.<\/p>\n