Scaled Composites Stratolaunch

In early 2011, Dynetics began studying the project and had approximately 40 employees working on it at the December 2011 public announcement. Stratolaunch originally planned to airlaunch the Falcon 9 Air by SpaceX, whose efforts began shortly before December.[7] Launching medium-sized payloads with the Falcon 9 dictated the aircraft size but SpaceX departed a year later.[8]

In May 2012, its specially constructed hangar was being built at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California.[9] In October 2012, the first of two manufacturing buildings, a 88,000 sq ft (8,200 m²) facility for construction of the composite sections of the wing and fuselage, was opened for production.[10]

In August 2013, the Pegasus II was selected for the air-launch vehicle.[11] In August 2014, all solid-fuel propulsion was selected, rather than liquid-fuel for the Orbital Sciences launcher.[12] In August 2015, 200,000 lb (91 t) of structure was assembled.[13]

By June 2016 Scaled Composites had 300 people working on the project.[14] Virgin Galactic also plans to launch small satellites with the LauncherOne from a 747.[15] Orbital ATK dropped its Thunderbolt rocket project for medium-class payloads.[8] In October 2016, the Pegasus II was replaced by multiple Pegasus XL mounted underneath the carrier aircraft, developments of the original Pegasus rocket which had been launched 42 times since 1990.[16]

By May 1, 2017, Stratolaunch had already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the project.[8] On May 31, 2017, the aircraft was rolled out for fueling tests, and to be prepared for ground testing, engine runs, taxi tests, and ultimately first flight. The company stated that it was aiming for a 2019 first-launch demonstration.[17] The Register newspaper in 2017 reported that Stratolaunch may have competition from the DARPA XS-1 or from Vector Space Systems by 2019.[18] By September 2017, engine testing was underway as well as testing of "control surfaces and electric, pneumatic and fire detection systems."[19] In December 2017, its first low-speed taxi test took it to 25 knots (46 km/h) on the runway powered by its six turbofans to test its steering, braking, and telemetry.[20] Higher-speed taxi tests began in 2018, reaching 40 knots (74 km/h) in February,[21] and 78 kn (140 km/h) in October.[22] On January 9, 2019, Stratolaunch completed a 110 knot (219 km/h) taxi test, and released a photograph of the nose landing gear lifted off the ground during the test.[23]

In January 2019, three months after the death of Stratolaunch founder and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Stratolaunch abandoned the development of its PGA rocket engines and dedicated launchers. This left the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL as the sole launch option for an orbital capability of 800 lb (360 kg). Stratolaunch was then reported to be aiming for a first flight within a few weeks and a first launch from the carrier in 2020.[2]

The aircraft first flew on April 13, 2019, at the Mojave Air and Space Port, reaching 17,000 ft (5,200 m) and 165 kn (305 km/h) in a 2 h 29 min flight.[24]

The future of Stratolaunch had been in doubt since the death of company founder Paul Allen in October 2018, with speculation that Stratolaunch Systems could cease operations.[25] Allen had been the source of funds for the capital intensive development program since the project began in 2010, and the company founding in 2011.[3]

In January 2019, Stratolaunch announced it was halting development of its air-launched family of launch vehicles.[3]

On 31 May 2019, the company announced that it would cease operations and that sale of its assets was being explored. An asking price of US$400 million was reported, which would include the sole aircraft, the company facilities, equipment, the designs and other intellectual property.[25][26] In June 2019 the Stratolaunch Systems company and assets were put up for sale by Vulcan for $400 million.[4]

By 11 October, Stratolaunch said it has a new ownership and will continue regular operations, but did not disclose who the group of investors is.[27] In December, the new owner was revealed to be Cerberus Capital Management, a specialist in the acquisition of distressed companies.[5] After the acquisition, Stratolaunch is now focusing on offering high-speed flight test services.[6]

By early 2020, Stratolaunch was developing the Talon-A reusable, rocket-powered, hypersonic flight vehicle (the Vulcan Aerospace Hyper-A concept in 2018). It could be carried by the airplane from 2022, up to three at once from 2023, and a larger concept vehicle, the Talon-Z, could carry cargo or people to orbit.[28]