Microsoft cofounder plans massive new plane for space launch

Dec 13, 2011, 19:48 GMT

Seattle - Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is planning to build the largest aircraft ever flown to serve as the launch vehicle for a new space transportation system, he announced Tuesday.

The huge plane, which will integrate parts from old Boeing 747s with new composite materials, will be designed to launch a multi-stage booster into orbit with 'greater safety, cost effectiveness and flexibility' than ever before, Allen said. Plans call for the first flight within five years.

The announcement of the new space system came just months after the US space agency NASA shut down the space shuttle project as it transitions to private companies for much of its space travel needs.

Allen's company Stratolaunch will work with legendary aircraft designer Bert Rutan to build the massive aircraft. The two previously collaborated on the development of SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 was the first privately-built manned vehicle to go into orbit.

'I have long dreamed about taking the next big step in private space flight after the success of SpaceShipOne - to offer a flexible, orbital space delivery system,' Allen said. 'We are at the dawn of radical change in the space launch industry. Stratolaunch Systems is pioneering an innovative solution that will revolutionize space travel.'

The twin-fuselage plane will use six 747 engines, weigh in at around 544,000 kilograms, and a wingspan of 116 metres. It requires a runway for takeoff and landing of 3,650 metres.

It will be built in a hangar at the Mojave Desert Air and Space Port in California. The multi-stage booster that will carry the spaceship from the plane into orbit will be manufactured by California-based Space Exploration Technologies, one of the world's pre-eminent space transportation companies.