World’s largest plane, the Stratolaunch ‘Roc’, makes first test flight over California
- Plane designed to release rockets at high altitudes, making satellite deployment as ‘easy as booking an airline flight’
The world’s largest aircraft took off over the Mojave Desert in California on Saturday, the first flight for the carbon-composite plane built by Stratolaunch Systems, started by late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, as the company enters the lucrative private space market.
The white aeroplane called Roc, which has a wingspan the length of an American football field and is powered by six engines on a twin fuselage, took to the air soon before 7am and stayed in the air for more than two hours before landing safely back at Mojave Air and Space Port as a crowd of hundreds of people cheered.
“What a fantastic first flight,” Stratolaunch chief executive officer Jean Floyd said in a statement posted to the company’s website. “Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground launched systems. We are incredibly proud of the Stratolaunch team, today’s flight crew, our partners at Northrup Grumman’s Scaled Composites and the Mojave Air and Space Port.”
The plane is designed to drop rockets and other space vehicles weighing up to 227 tons (500,000 pounds) at an altitude of 10,700 (35,000 feet) and has been billed by the company as making satellite deployment as “easy as booking an airline flight”.
Saturday’s flight, which saw the plane reach a maximum speed of 304km/h (189mph) and altitudes about 5,180 metres (17,000 feet), was meant to test its performance and handling qualities, according to Stratolaunch.