Capsule with rocket booster blasts into orbit after the plane climbs high in the atmosphere
First passenger flights expected in 2021
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last updated at 1:00 AM on 14th December 2011
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The co-founder of Microsoft is forging ahead in the future of space travel with plans for the world's largest plane to launch passengers and cargo into orbit.
Technology tycoon Paul Allen and aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan unveiled plans in Seattle today for a twin-fuselage aircraft, with wings longer than a football field, to carry a rocket high into the atmosphere and drop it - avoiding the need for a launch pad and the expense of additional rocket fuel.
Allen, who teamed up with Rutan in 2004 to send the first privately financed, manned spacecraft into space, said his new project would 'keep America at the forefront of space exploration and give a new generation of children something to dream about'.
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Winging it: Stratolaunch Systems, founded by Microsoft tycoon Paul Allen, unveiled the model for its space plane in Seattle today. It has a wingspan longer than a football field
Lift off: The plane is the next step in space travel for Allen who teamed up with pioneer Burt Rutan in 2004 for their first project
He told a news conference: 'We have plenty and many challenges ahead of us.'
Allen and Rutan join a field crowded with Silicon Valley veterans who want to fill a void created by the retirement of NASA's space shuttle.
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Several companies are competing to develop spacecraft to deliver cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station. The Microsoft billionaire criticised the fact that government-sponsored space programmes are waning.
He said: 'When I was growing up, America's space program was the symbol of aspiration. For me, the fascination with space never ended. I never stopped dreaming what might be possible.'
The drop: Stratolaunch allows the shuttle to disconnect from the main aircraft and then use a rocket launcher to blast into space
On to the next leg: The giant plane drops the shuttle once it has climbed high enough into the sky so that it can continue its journey into space
Blast off: The new plane saves money because it avoids the need for a launch pad and the expense for additional rocket fuel
Rocket man: Technology tycoon is hoping that his project fills the void created by the retirement of NASA's space shuttle
Allen and Rutan last collaborated on the experimental SpaceShipOne, which was launched in the air from a special aircraft.
It became the first privately financed, manned spacecraft to go into space in 2004 and later won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for accomplishing the feat twice in two weeks.
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic licensed the technology and is developing SpaceShipTwo to carry tourists into space.
The new plane will have a wingspan of 380 feet - the world's largest. A space capsule with its own booster rocket blasts into orbit after the plane climbs high into the atmosphere.
The next frontier: Test flights are scheduled for 2016 with trips carrying passengers to follow within the next five
This method saves money by not using rocket fuel to get off the ground. Another older rocket company, Orbital Sciences Corp, uses this method for unmanned rockets to launch satellites.
The rockets will eventually carry people, but the first tests, scheduled for 2016, will be unmanned. It should be another five years before people can fly on the system that Allen and Rutan are calling Stratolaunch.
The company, to be based in Huntsville, Alabama, bills its method of getting to space as 'any orbit, any time'. Rutan will build the carrier aircraft, using six 747 engines.
Big dreams: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen looks at the model of a giant aircraft he plans to build during a news conference today in Seattle
The spaceship and booster will be provided by another Internet tycoon, Elon Musk of PayPal, who has built a successful commercial rocket.
Allen left Microsoft in 1983. Since his time at the software giant, he has pursued many varied interests. He's the owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team as well as the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA.
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