Why is Paul Allen building the world’s largest airplane? Perhaps to launch a space shuttle called Black Ice. - The Washington Post

From another article adapted from the forthcoming book The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos

"The Black Ice space plane — should it be built — would be about as big as the former space shuttle developed by NASA and capable of staying up for at least three days. It could be launched from virtually anywhere in the world, as long as the runway could accommodate Stratolaunch’s size. And it would be capable of flying to the International Space Station, taking satellites and experiments to orbit, and maybe one day even people — though there are no plans for that in the near-term.

Then it would land back on the runway, ready to fly again.

“You make your rocket a plane,” Floyd said. “So, you have an airplane carrying a plane that’s fully reusable. You don’t throw anything away ever. Only fuel.”"

Why is Paul Allen building the world’s largest airplane? Perhaps to launch a space shuttle called Black Ice. - The Washington Post