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7ECA t1_j4hb8y4 wrote

Reply to comment by alphagusta in The Stratolaunch Roc, the largest aircraft ever flown, has just completed a 6-hour test flight. It aims to be a platform to launch reusable hypersonic craft from an altitude of 10 km by lughnasadh

Yep it's the famous 'law of the excluded middle'. The B747 is almost as capable and infinitely cheaper because they're ubiquitous. SpaceX has the ability to lift payloads that are financially interesting. This thing was in between the two and was knowable from the start.

I think Paul Allen was a great man but this was not his greatest moment

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Drak_is_Right t1_j4hi2pi wrote

I think he might have paid for his own launch vehicle development, but he died so they scrapped that?

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7ECA t1_j4htsr5 wrote

I believe that the people managing his estate sold off the aircraft and the program

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todd10k t1_j4iezct wrote

But wouldn't this vehicle also be capable of lifting much heavier payloads to the stratosphere than a simple 747?

Also, Lets see his card.

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