Synopsis: This plane completed its ninth test flight on January 13 and earlier all the airplanes were in the Mojave Dessert. This is the first time the plane has taken off outside of the Mojave Dessert, asserted by the company.
The biggest airplane in the world designed to carry air-launch-to-orbit hypersonic vehicles and rockets has completed testing its longest flight till now. Named Stratolaunch Roc, developed by co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen, and U.S. aerospace company Stratolaunch Systems manufactured it.
This plane completed its ninth test flight on January 13 and earlier all the airplanes were in the Mojave Dessert. This is the first time the plane has taken off outside of the Mojave Dessert, asserted by the company.
The aircraft, which was built from carbon fiber from two disassembled Boeing 747-400 jumbo planes originally operated by United Airlines, is the largest all-composite aircraft ever built. Unlike other hypersonic aircraft, it is built to take off and land on an airport runway and has space for up to three rockets.
The plane, which is around 239 feet long and 50 feet tall and can carry a payload of 500,000 pounds, needs a runway that is at least 12,000 feet long.
https://twitter.com/Stratolaunch/status/1614037876945068032
The plane took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port and traveled through southeast California for about six hours, climbing to a maximum altitude of 22,500 feet.
According to the business, it intends to test the Talon-A vehicle's separation and conduct its first hypersonic flight in the first part of 2023.
The plane is "closer than ever," according to the company's CEO Zachary Krevor, who stated as much in a press release.
