

Stratolaunch Systems: Paul Allen launches commercial space project - ryanwhitney
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/13/us-allen-space-idUSTRE7BC1R320111213

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tectonic
"Allen's rocket will be launched from a massive carrier aircraft powered by
six jumbo jet engines, to be constructed by Scaled Composites, a unit of
defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. The rocket itself will be made by
private space company SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, the billionaire co-founder
of PayPal."

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zandorg
Just pointing out that Musk is not necessarily a 'billionaire' in actual net
worth.

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VladRussian
yet his [successful] endeavours look like of a billionaire

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johngalt
Do you really gain much from a carrier plane if you want to reach orbital
velocity? LEO velocity being ~18,000mph, and any realistic carrier plane going
much slower than that.

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randallsquared
One thing you gain is less friction. Fifty percent of the atmosphere by mass
is below 18,000 feet, per wikipedia:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth#Pressure_an...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth#Pressure_and_thickness)

