Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch opens giant hangar for world’s largest aircraft

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The world’s largest aircraft needs a ginormous place to live, and that’s exactly what Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch has built. Stratolaunch Systems, the commercial space venture backed by the Microsoft co-founder, just opened a new hangar for the world’s largest plane that is set to launch into space by 2016. The 103,257 square-foot hangar is based in Mojave,… Read More…

SpaceX and Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch part ways over rocket design changes

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Stratolaunch Systems, the commercial space venture backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, has cut ties with one of its high-profile partners, SpaceX, one of the pioneers in the industry. Gary Wentz, the Stratolaunch CEO, confirmed the news Tuesday in a message to the Flight International news site. “Stratolaunch and SpaceX have amicably agreed to end our… Read More…

Paul Allen discusses the Stratolaunch and sports at U.S. Space & Rocket Center

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Dressed in a black tuxedo, Paul Allen sat on stage in front of 800 people Wednesday night in Huntsville, Alabama and shared personal insight on a variety of questions. But his words weren’t about new software, cloud computing or the Surface. Rather, the talk focused on two of the billionaire’s other passions: space and sports…. Read More…

Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch aircraft passes initial review

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Paul Allen is one step closer to his childhood dreams of space. The FlightGlobal blog reports that Stratolaunch Systems has finished preliminary design review of its space-launch system. “The carrier aircraft conducted their preliminary design review on [August 27-28] in Mojave, California,” says the company, which notes that it’s now reviewing the data package and… Read More…

SpaceX and beyond: Latest from the new space race

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The docking of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule with the International Space Station is a landmark for the private space industry, marking the first time a commercial spacecraft has flown a mission to the International Space Station, to deliver supplies. SpaceX is one of many companies developing commercial space technologies and planning to launch their own spacecraft… Read More…

With Stratolaunch project, Paul Allen makes a big bet on commercial spaceflight

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As he began speaking at the news conference for Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch space project today, renowned aerospace engineer Burt Rutan pointed out a “large mistake” in a video simulation and model of the aircraft that the venture will use to launch rockets into space from 30,000 feet in the air. “You should never show this… Read More…