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Stratolaunch successfully tests a core component of its rocket engines
Stratolaunch has successfully tested a key component of its hydrogen-fuelled rocket engine. The company fired the pre-burner last Friday at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. In contrast to its long-gestating massive aircraft, which has yet to take flight, it raced through the charted development of the component in the span of a year (as promised).
Stratolaunch's new satellite carriers include a reusable space plane
Paul Allen's Stratolaunch is only just starting to make serious progress on its massive aircraft, but it's already thinking about its future beyond that enormous machine. The company has unveiled a new family of launch vehicles that can carry a wide range of payloads to orbit. Most notably, it's in the "design study" phase for a completely reusable space plane (shown at far right). Stratolaunch won't even predict when the machine would be ready, but it would initially focus on cargo launches and carry crew in later revisions.
