Stratolaunch, Which Flew the World's Biggest Airplane (Once), Sold to
Mystery Owner
Stratolaunch's rocket carrier plane, the largest
aircraft ever built, takes off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave,
California during its first test flight on April 13, 2019.Stratolaunch's rocket
carrier plane, the largest aircraft ever built, takes off from the Mojave Air
and Space Port in Mojave, California during its first test flight on April 13,
2019.(Image: © Stratolaunch Systems)
The company that operates the
world's largest airplane has a new owner - but we don't know who it
is.
Stratolaunch Systems, the satellite-launching venture established by
billionaire Microsoft co-founder and longtime space enthusiast Paul Allen in
2011, has changed hands, the company announced earlier this
month.
"Stratolaunch LLC has transitioned ownership and is continuing
regular operations," Stratolaunch representatives wrote in an Oct. 11 statement.
That statement did not identify the new owner, and we remain in the dark
today.
California-based company Scaled Composites built for Stratolaunch
a huge plane with a 385-foot (117 meters) wingspan. This dual-fuselage aircraft,
known as Roc, is designed to carry a satellite-toting rocket high in the sky.
After being dropped at altitude, the rocket will fire up, carrying its payload
to space.
This air-launch strategy is not new; it's currently employed
by Northrop Grumman's Pegasus rockets and Virgin Galactic's six-passenger
SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle, for example.
Stratolaunch had been owned
by Allen's holding company, Vulcan. But after Allen died in October 2018, his
sister Jody - the co-founder and chair of Vulcan, and the executor and trustee
of her brother's estate - decided to set an exit strategy, Reuters reported
earlier this year.
Stratolaunch soon scaled back its operations
significantly and laid off a large portion of its workforce, Geekwire reported.
And in June, CNBC reported that Vulcan was seeking to sell Roc, for $400
million.
Roc has just one flight under its belt, a 2.5-hour-long test
jaunt that took place this past April over California's Mojave Desert. It's
unclear when the huge plane will lift off again; we'll just have to wait for
more news.
"Our near-term launch vehicle development strategy focuses on
providing customizable, reusable, and affordable rocket-powered testbed vehicles
and associated flight services," Vulcan representatives added in the Oct. 11
statement. "As we continue on our mission, Stratolaunch will bring the carrier
aircraft test and operations program fully in-house. We thank Vulcan Inc and
Scaled Composites for turning an ambitious idea into a flight-proven aircraft."
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