The end of a beautiful era
The founder of the American venture capital aerospace company Paul Allen (many will probably remember him as the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation) died on October 15, 2018 at the age of 65. Together with him, the idea of creating a universal means for launching spacecraft by the method of air launch has gone into oblivion - when the separation of a rocket or spacecraft from the carrier occurs at a significant altitude, after which the spacecraft reaches its destination on its own.
The main brainchild of Stratolaunch Systems can be called the Scaled Composites Stratolaunch Model 351 aircraft developed by Scaled Composites, which was supposed to act as the very carrier. To perform a complex role, the vehicle received a two-fuselage structure and six Pratt & Whitney PW4056 by-pass turbojet engines. With a wingspan of 117 meters, the aircraft can, with certain reservations, be called "the largest in the world." Well, or certainly the widest. It can also lift 250 tons into the air as a payload.
Stratolaunch's plans, I must say, were truly Napoleonic. In 2018, the company showed the concepts of new spacecraft, which should be launched from a carrier aircraft. These were the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) rocket with a payload of 3.4 tons, the MLV Heavy rocket, capable of carrying six tons, and the Space Plane spacecraft, similar to the infamous Boeing X-37. Stratolaunch said it sees Space Plane as a reusable ship.
It all seemed too good to be true. Rather, too ambitious. In January 2019, it became known that Stratolaunch abandoned the creation of missiles and engines, leaving, however, the project of the carrier aircraft with it. The company also laid off some of its employees: according to sources, 50 people were laid off.
Then the problems went on increasing, although on April 13, 2019, after long ground tests, the Scaled Composites Stratolaunch Model 351 nevertheless took to the skies. As early as May, it became known that Stratolaunch was in the process of closing and would be selling off all of its physical assets and intellectual property rights. Soon a buyer was found.
Uncle Sam's service?
Further history is similar to a detective story. In December 2019, The Drive wrote that the new owner of the Stratolaunch project was a person close to Donald Trump and associated with the US military-industrial complex. We are talking about billionaire Steve Feinberg, who owns Cerberus Capital Management. It is an investment firm that buys distressed companies in order to reorganize them further and make a profit. To be clear, over the past few decades, Cerberus Capital Management has bought renowned manufacturers such as Remington and Bushmaster.
Experts then almost directly connected this with the development of hypersonic weapons, which is now actively being carried out in the United States. Another is more interesting. Long before that, Quartz experts had stated that the Stratolaunch Model 351 was a secret military project. The reasoning is simple: air launch has never been used, is not used, and probably will not be in demand from commercial firms. Especially in light of the active development of such rocket scientists as SpaceX and Blue Origin. So from the point of view of the stated goals, the project was probably initially devoid of any sense. But the presence of a carrier aircraft made it possible to launch military spacecraft into orbit, without reference to weather conditions and the readiness of the cosmodrome.
Current state
Back in 2018, it became known that Stratolaunch was working on hypersonic rocket planes. As reported then, they first want to develop a small Hyper-A apparatus with a length of 8.5 meters and a wingspan of 3.4 meters. It will be designed to fly at a speed six times the speed of sound. Then Stratolaunch intends to build a larger Hyper-Z with a length of 24.4 meters and a wingspan of approximately 11 meters. It will fly ten times the speed of sound.
The devices are planned to be equipped with deltoid wings with a large sweep along the leading edge. Vertical stabilizers and rudders will be placed on the wingtips. Both vehicles should receive liquid-propellant rocket engines operating on a fuel mixture of hydrogen / oxygen, however, the prospects for creating engines are all the more vague after the formal rejection of their development. The Hyper-A and Hyper-Z should land like regular aircraft, which dramatically increases their versatility.
One might think that both hypersonic rocket planes sank into oblivion, in the wake of the missiles mentioned above. However, it is not. In January 2020, Stratolaunch confirmed the development of hypersonic aircraft. “Stratolaunch is exploring the development of aerospace vehicles and technologies needed, including for reliable, regular access to space. This study includes an analysis of the need to significantly increase the country's capabilities in the design and operation of hypersonic vehicles,”company spokesman Art Pettigrew said in a statement to GeekWire.
Of course, it is difficult to draw concrete conclusions about the state of Stratolaunch and the direction of its work. One thing is clear: the company has the means and development strategy, within the framework of which promising hypersonic vehicles are being created. It is important to note that since the change of ownership, the company has started to improve. In a tweet dated December 10, Jean Floyd - President and CEO of Stratolaunch - said the company had grown from 13 employees to 87 employees in two months. Floyd also noted that the company's mission is "to be the world's leading provider of high-speed flight testing services."
It is impossible to speak with confidence about the purpose of high-speed systems. But as experts note, the United States now does not have reliable means that would make it possible to perform a wide range of tests in the field of microgravity and high-speed atmospheric flight: until 1968, these tasks partially lay on the shoulders of the X-15 rocket plane.
As The Drive rightly notes in its material "Stratolaunch Was Crafting Hypersonic Vehicles Before Its Official Pivot To High-Speed Testing", even if Stratolaunch does not have clear plans to create any of the complexes described above, the experience gained during their development, would be very valuable in the context of the company's new focus on hypersonic testing services. Time will tell whether this will help the Americans create a new hypersonic weapon.
