Microsoft Billionaire Paul Allen Launches New Space Venture
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and famed aerospace engineer Burt Rutan are once again teaming up for a space venture. This time they’re heading to orbit and calling in Elon Musk and SpaceX to help them get there. The project, Stratolaunch Systems, will use an air-launched booster rocket to deliver cargo, and eventually people, into low earth orbit.
The plan amounts to building the biggest airplane ever, then using it to launch rockets into space from about 30,000 feet. Allen, who reportedly is financing the project himself, announced the new company today and said it “will bring airport-like operations to the launch of commercial and government payloads.”
“By the end of this decade, Stratolaunch will be putting spacecraft into orbit,” he said.