Hmmm... I don't really understand how this is a good plan? Not to be a naysayer or anything, but I think it is kind of funny how it is going to be "the biggest airplane yet" with six, count em, six 747 engines! Take that A380!

In all honesty though, really? This thing needs a whole new runway to be built for it, there is no way that this is the answer to commercial space travel, in my opinion. It is too big! It would be way to expensive to build, way to expensive to maintain and I don't think that doing a split fuselage that big is really even going to be remotely safe, how do they test the loads on a design like that?

The only other thing I have to say here is what makes Scaled and Space X think they have the experience to go from the size of aircraft they have built to this thing? I am sorry but this seems like a big pipe dream to me. I have seen bits about this before and in a way to me, it is kind of sad that the two companies that had the "right stuff" came up with this. Just my thoughts 😉

I think you bring valid thoughts to the table. I would think, and I may be wrong, that the Burt Rutan design team has been rather successful and, maybe I missed something, but he does not seem to have very many design failures in his big stable of aircraft, so if he thinks he can do it, I do not think I am going to second guess him today. Just my two cents, but you might be right. I guess this is how horse races get started, and we will get to see in a couple of years.

I am old fashioned. it seemed pretty easy some years ago to put
the Space Shuttle ontop an airplane and fly it around.

Seems it has already been 'sorta' done. If it was practical
I think We would already be doing it.

I know the size was much smaller. It may not be a good comparison.

I think the idea of launching the rocket from the plane is fine. It is building not only the "biggest plane ever" but building it out of composites that is a hard sell for me. Look at what it has taken Boeing to get the 787 going, and they are not even there yet! Seems like a pretty far fetched idea to me, more of a, "we can build it the biggest" rather then the trying to get to space economically.

A good point Art, and I agree that it does seem a little Howard Hughes "spruce goose" of them to be stressing the size. But I am not sure it is so far fetched for them to complete it... the bar is much lower for this type of EX aircraft than it is for the 787. They can de-rate it quite a lot with conservative weather and flight rules, it does not need a particularly long range, and you could design in a feasible escape system for all the humans involved.

As to the huge wingspan, they can fly that out of Vandenberg today I'd bet, or at worst have to build extra-wide runway somewhere. A big piece of runway is pretty cheap in the overall scheme of a project.