The world's biggest airplane took to the skies this Saturday morning at 7 AM PT from Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California. According to the Associated Press, the inaugural flight lasted for about two hours, and the plane safely landed without issue.
From Alan Boyle at Geek Wire: "Stratolaunch’s air-launch system is designed to carry multiple rockets up to an altitude of about 40,000 feet, and then drop them into the air to fire up their rocket engines. The advantage of such a system is that it can take off from any runway that’s long enough to accommodate the plane, fly around bad weather if need be, and launch a satellite into any orbital inclination.
Potential customers range from commercial satellite operators to the U.S. military. It’s not clear, however, just how big of a market niche Stratolaunch will occupy. Because satellites are getting smaller and smaller, with more and more capabilities, some say the world’s biggest plane may be too big to make business sense."
So, how big is big? The Roc weighs in at an astonishing 500,000 pounds (250 tons), has a world-record wingspan of 385 feet, six Pratt & Whitney engines, 28-wheel landing gear, and is made from the parts of two Boeing 747 airplanes.
The Roc has landed! My heartfelt congratulations to everyone at @Stratolaunch! @NASASpaceflight #stratolaunch pic.twitter.com/g8RwZyVbvA— Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) April 13, 2019