BUSINESS

Stratolaunch, world's largest plane, makes first flight over California

The Stratolaunch plane flies above the California desert Saturday in the first test flight of the U.S. company's gigantic aircraft whose wingspan is almost half that of an Airbus A380. The strange aircraft, built by the legendary aeronautical engineering company Scaled Composites in the Mojave Desert, has two fuselages and is powered by six Boeing 747 engines. | STRATOLAUNCH / VIA AFP-JIJI

REUTERS

Apr 15, 2019

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 Corp., started by late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, as the company enters the lucrative private space market.

The white airplane 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 shortly before 7 a.m. Pacific time (1400 GMT) and stayed aloft for more than two hours before landing safely back at the 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.

Stratolaunch, world's largest plane, makes first flight over California

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