
Space firm founded by billionaire Paul Allen closing operations - hhs
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-exploration-stratolaunch-exclus/exclusive-space-firm-founded-by-billionaire-paul-allen-closing-operations-sources-idUSKCN1T12FD
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aresant
This is on the heels of Stratolaunch deciding not to pursue the design and
development of their own launch vehicle in January of this year.(1)

Instead they pivoted to customizing their massive airframe to launching
Norththrop's Pegasus XL rockets.

Editorializing I'd guess that Paul Allen's estate pushed the company to figure
out if there was a short term commercialization opportunity with Northrop,
found there wasn't, and is cutting their losses.

Tough to be a space faring startup without a billionaire sponsor bankrolling
you as a passion project.

(1) [https://spacenews.com/stratolaunch-abandons-launch-
vehicle-p...](https://spacenews.com/stratolaunch-abandons-launch-vehicle-
program/)

~~~
avmich
We definitely need more billionaires interested in space. We need to inspire
with space the "next" (heavily overlapping) generation, so those who'd succeed
may have a chance to advance the space activities.

~~~
cr0sh
Ultimately we need to get off this rock as a species; the Earth is fairly
overdue (statistically as I understand it) for a major asteroid hit.

We seem to have this hubris that we'll be able to "detect and deflect" \- both
of which are unlikely with our current technology for any size dire enough to
care about.

We don't even have the "detect" part in place - not in the way it needs to be.
As more than a few recent incidents have shown, we're currently blind and a
sitting duck, so to speak.

Even a relatively small strike, depending on where it landed, could
potentially trigger a nuclear launch depending on the political climate and
such at the time. We need better eyes, if for nothing else than the avert that
kind of "misunderstanding" which could lead to an existential crisis.

~~~
cycrutchfield
>the Earth is fairly overdue (statistically as I understand it) for a major
asteroid hit.

What does this mean? Wouldn't the distribution of asteroid hits be essentially
memoryless? That is, the fact that we have not had one in recent history has
almost zero bearing on the probability of one happening in the future.

~~~
MRD85
If you're interested, the terminology is "independent" events, and you're
correct.

~~~
cycrutchfield
Independence is not exactly the same as memoryless. In this case I was
referring to something like a Poisson process.

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jbuzbee
They are denying it. Time will tell..

[https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/the-worlds-
largest-a...](https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/the-worlds-largest-
aircraft-may-never-launch-rockets-nor-even-fly-again/)

~~~
dredmorbius
"We don’t have any news or announcements to share at this time. Stratolaunch
remains operational" is not an emphatic denial.

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hnjim
I was excited to follow the original scaled composite work with Burt and
spaceship one (winning the X Prize) but time has passed and stage reusability
appears to be a better long term solution than a carrier solution. I think
space ship 2 will meet a similar fate against blue origins approach with new
Shepard and of SpaceX decides to sell space tourist spots in dragon 2. You
need to try different approaches to find what works and the industry should be
thankful for these experiments!

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soperj
Figured this was going to happen when Paul died. Really too bad they didn't
have another year or two.

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Animats
And right after they got the big plane flying.

Maybe the museum up near Portland that has the Spruce Goose will take it.

~~~
sonofhans
That's the Evergreen Aviation museum in McMinnville, about an hour south of
Portland. They have an SR-71, too. I make a pilgrimage once a year just to
touch it :D

[https://www.evergreenmuseum.org](https://www.evergreenmuseum.org)

~~~
nettdata
First time I saw it was surreal.

I was on a wine tour and on the way back to the hotel looked out the window
and was gobsmacked. “Woah... that’s the Spruce Goose! The Spruce Goose is
here!?!”

Cancelled the next day’s tour and hit up the museum instead.

Highly recommended.

~~~
geoka9
> The Spruce Goose is here!?!”

And a 747 on the roof.

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bahmboo
Paul's sister Jody running the joint now. She's probably more pragmatic than
Paul was. Letting the craft go airborne was her homage to him and the team.
But we have many players in this space doing better. Time to refocus

~~~
nihil75
spoken like a true bureaucrat

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neuronexmachina
For a while I was convinced this project was actually a cover along the lines
of the Howard Hughes Glomar Explorer. Maybe for deploying a variant of the
X-37 to be able to launch/retrieve/bug satellites undetected. I guess that
wasn't actually the case.

More about the Glomar Explorer:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Azorian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Azorian)

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deepnotderp
It was a very interesting design, and I'm sad to see _any_ space company go,
but stratolaunch was honestly not a great idea for larger launch vehicles. The
drag penalty reduction was most useful for smaller launch vehicles.

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aurizon
'The Dream never dies, just the dreamer'... Allen was that rarest of all
Unicorn fathers - no need for commercial justification - to a point. It was
very saddening to see him pass. There may be a substantial tax hit? so his
sister has to bring the dream to earth as well as make something carry on. Do
a good job Jody, we all support you.

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nuccy
I've just added Stratolaunch plane to the scheme with other giant planes so
that it is easier to compare, see:

[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_planes_compari...](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_planes_comparison_-
_Updated_-_2019.svg)

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avmich
It's interesting that Russia (Soviet Union) produced a couple of big space
rockets which flew very few times (N1 - four unsuccessful liftoffs, Energiya -
two successful flights), and USA made a couple of big planes (Spruce Goose,
Stratolaunch) which flew very few times (once each).

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ChuckMcM
Interesting parallel to Howard Hughes and the Spruce Goose. An ambitious
aircraft legacy. I hope the plane is not destroyed, it is a remarkable
achievement.

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countryqt30
Learning: Don't wait with your dreams until you die (or short before that).

~~~
paulcole
I’ve found it easier to just not have dreams.

~~~
D-Coder
I've found it easier to just not die.

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AmphibianTree
Maybe we should all of our pollutant industries over to Io so at least it’ll
be warm by the time we need it.

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_Microft
That's what happens when someone's pouring their resources/time into a project
without an existing business model. That does not need to be money or the
space launch business. I have seen this with FOSS projects as well when the
project lead/driving force left.

I'm a bit afraid that this might be Blue Origin's fate if Bezos suddenly died.

SpaceX would maybe be no longer be as ambitious anymore as it used to be if
Musk went away but at least they're actually selling things and have a working
business model. (TSLAQ hate crew objections incoming in 3..2..1.. ;)

