Stratolaunch LLC is an American aerospace company providing high-speed flight test services. It was originally formed in 2011 to develop a new air-launched space transportation system, with its corporate headquarters located in Seattle, Washington. The company and development project were officially announced in December 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan, who had previously collaborated on the creation of SpaceShipOne.
The project originally had three primary components: a carrier aircraft being built by Scaled Composites (model Stratolaunch, called "Roc"), a multi-stage payload launch vehicle which was to have been launched at high altitude into space from under the carrier aircraft, plus a mating and integration system by Dynetics. Ultimately, only the carrier aircraft was fully developed by the time of Paul Allen's death in late 2018.
The carrier aircraft first flew in April 2019, at the Mojave Air and Space Port, reaching and in a 2 hour 29 minute flight.
Stratolaunch underwent a change of ownership and major change of direction in mid-2019 as the assets of the company were put up for sale, and some sources suggested that Stratolaunch could cease operations completely. The new owner was identified in December 2019 to be Cerberus Capital Management. CEO Jean Floyd announced that Stratolaunch reacquired staff in the fourth quarter of 2019, growing to 87 employees by mid-December and forecasting a "great year" in 2020 providing high-speed flight test services.
History
The project was started in 2010, almost a year before the public announcement was made. Development costs were initially projected to be US$300 million in 2011. Dynetics actually began work in early 2010 and had approximately 40 employees working on the project . Dynetics was cited as "responsible for the total systems engineering, integration and testing, which includes aerodynamics, loads, and interfaces". It was announced in 2011 that SpaceX was also already working on the design for the rocket-powered space vehicle components of the system, the Falcon 9 Air.
The collaboration with SpaceX ended by 2012. In a 2015 interview, former president Chuck Beames (2014–2016) explained, "SpaceX was a partner, and like a lot of partnerships, it was just determined that it was best we went our separate ways – different ambitions. We were interested in their engines, but Elon and his team, they're about going to Mars, and we're just in a different place, and so I think it was a parting of the ways that was amicable".
Stratolaunch Systems completed its first composites production building in October 2012. In February 2013, the company completed construction of its carrier assembly hangar and operations facilities at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
The carrier aircraft was originally projected to make its first test flight in 2015. By October 2013, the first flight of the carrier aircraft was pushed back until 2018 at the earliest, with the first flight of the air-launched rocket expected in 2019 at the earliest.
In 2014, Stratolaunch announced that it was considering multiple launch vehicle options over a range of satellite sizes, and that some development work on the orbital launch vehicle has been slowed down to focus on completion of the carrier aircraft.
In 2014, Stratolaunch Systems was placed under the supervision of Paul Allen's new aerospace company Vulcan Aerospace, a subsidiary of Vulcan Inc. Beames stated, "Vulcan Aerospace is the company within Vulcan that plans and executes projects to shift how the world conceptualizes space travel through cost reduction and on‐demand access. Vulcan Aerospace has its heritage in SpaceShipOne and oversees the Stratolaunch Systems project"
Later in the year, in November 2015, Gary Wentz "stepped down as president and CEO of Stratolaunch Systems to join United Launch Alliance to lead human launch services" for ULA. Vulcan ended its contract with Orbital ATK in mid-2015 and indicated that a decision on a new rocket for the Stratolaunch Carrier Aircraft would be made in late 2015.
In 2017, Fast Company named the Stratolaunch one of the world's most innovative companies citing the air-launch system's size and ability to fly in inclement weather. In April 2017, Stratolaunch formally transitioned its name from Vulcan Aerospace to Stratolaunch Systems Corporation.
In May 2017, the Stratolaunch was rolled out for the first time to begin fueling tests, the first of many ground tests.