Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen indicated he is prepared to commit
$200 million or more of his wealth to build the world's largest
airplane as a mobile platform for launching satellites at low cost,
which he believes could transform the space industry.
The concept seems to border on science fiction. It envisions a behemoth
mother ship with twin, narrow fuselages, featuring six Boeing Co. 747
engines attached to a record 385-foot wingspan, plus a smaller rocket
pod nestled underneath. Expected to weigh roughly 1.2 million pounds,
the combination would roughly match the maximum takeoff weight of the
largest, fully loaded Airbus A380 superjumbo plane, but the wings would
be more than 120 feet longer than those of the Airbus A380.
Flying at roughly 30,000 feet, the craft would climb sharply just as it
released the rocket, which would use a cluster of four or five engines
to boost itself into orbit.
The Wall Street Journal