Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption If successful the jet would be a cheaper way to launch objects into space than using rockets

The world's largest aeroplane by wingspan has taken flight for the first time.

Built by Stratolaunch, the company set up by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2011, the aircraft is designed to act as a flying launch pad for satellites.

The idea is to fly the plane to 10 km (6.2 miles) high before releasing satellites into orbit.

Its 385 ft (117 m) wingspan is longer than an American football field.

If successful, such a project would be a cheaper way to launch objects into space than rockets fired from the ground.

The twin-fuselage six-engine jet flew up to 15,000 ft (4,572m) and reached speeds of about 170 miles per hour (274 km/h) on its maiden flight.

Image copyright Reuters

Image copyright Reuters

Image copyright Reuters

The pilot Evan Thomas told reporters the experience was "fantastic" and that "for the most part, the airplane flew as predicted".

According to their website, Stratolaunch aims to "make access to orbit as routine as catching a commercial airline flight is today".

British billionaire Richard Branson's company Virgin Galactic has also developed aircraft that launch rockets into orbit from great height.

Stratolaunch describes its vessel as the "world's largest plane" but there are aircraft which are longer from nose to tail.</s>The world's largest airplane, built by the late Paul Allen's company Stratolaunch Systems, makes its first test flight in Mojave, California, U.S. April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - 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.

"Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground launched systems, Floyd said. "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 500,000 pounds at an altitude of 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 189 miles per hour and altitudes of 17,000 feet, was meant to test its performance and handling qualities, according to Stratolaunch.

Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, announced in 2011 that he had formed the privately funded Stratolaunch.

The company seeks to cash in on higher demand in coming years for vessels that can put satellites in orbit, competing in the United States with other space entrepreneurs and industry stalwarts such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and United Launch Alliance - a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Stratolaunch has said that it intends to launch its first rockets from the Roc in 2020 at the earliest. Allen died in October 2018 while suffering from non-Hodgkins' lymphoma, just months after the plane's development was unveiled.

"We all know Paul would have been proud to witness today’s historic achievement," said Jody Allen, Chair of Vulcan Inc and Trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust. "The aircraft is a remarkable engineering achievement and we congratulate everyone involved."</s>LOS ANGELES: 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.

“Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground launched systems, Floyd said. “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.”

Saturday’s flight, which saw the plane reach a maximum speed of 189 miles per hour and altitudes of 17,000 feet, was meant to test its performance and handling qualities, according to Stratolaunch.

Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, announced in 2011 that he had formed the privately funded Stratolaunch.

The company seeks to cash in on higher demand in coming years for vessels that can put satellites in orbit, competing in the United States with other space entrepreneurs and industry stalwarts such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and United Launch Alliance – a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

“We all know Paul would have been proud to witness today’s historic achievement,” said Jody Allen, Chair of Vulcan Inc and Trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust. “The aircraft is a remarkable engineering achievement and we congratulate everyone involved.”</s>The world’s largest aircraft, a carbon-composite plane, took its first flight on Saturday from California, U.S. over...</s>MOJAVE, Calif. — The world’s largest airplane flew for the first time. At 6:58 a.m. PST (13:58 GMT) April 13, 2019, Scaled Model 351 took to the skies above the Mojave Desert.

Stratolaunch was founded by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen to develop an affordable and accessible platform to air-launch rockets. Unfortunately, Allen was unable to witness the flight of the aircraft as he died of cancer in October 2018.

The flight lasted 2.5 hours and reached a maximum airspeed of 165 knots (189 mph).

“Today has been great. The airplane flew as predicted. It was a very smooth flight and the team had a lot of fun,” said test pilot Evan Thomas after the flight. “This flight really is a tribute to the hard work of all of the men and women who have worked tirelessly over the years making this program a reality.”

The aircraft has been in development since 2011 when Stratolaunch and Scaled Composites teamed up to build it. Stratolaunch is capable of carrying up to three Northrop Grumman Innovation System Pegasus XL rockets at one time. Currently, Pegasus rockets are launched from a Lockheed Martin L-1011.

The maiden voyage is yet another achievement for an already successful company.

“The Scaled team excels at tackling the hardest problems in aviation. We have test flown an average of one new aircraft type per year over our 37 year history,” said Cory Bird, president of Scaled Composites via a company-issued release. “Together with Stratolaunch, we have reached another aviation first by flying the world’s largest all‐composite aircraft and moving closer to increasing the accessibility of space launch.”

Patrick Attwell is a native of Houston, Texas but he currently resides in Austin, Texas where he studies accounting at Concordia University Texas. Atwell has had a passion for all things pertaining to aerospace, rocketry, and aviation. Atwell has worked to cover these fields for more than a decade. After he attended and watched the launch of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission it gave him what is known in the space community as “rocket fever.” Since that time, Atwell has followed his dreams and has covered events dealing with NASA’s Commercial Crew flight assignments at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and other space-related events in the Lone Star State.</s>The world’s largest airplane, a Stratolaunch behemoth having two bigger fuse lags and six refined Boeing 747 engines has made its debut flight on Saturday in California.

The jet had carried its first fly over the Mojav desert. The plane is aero crafted to carry into space and drop a rocket that would ignite ti deploy a satellite.

The giant jet was built by an engineering company called Scaled Composites. The aircraft is that much big as its wing span is longer than a normal football field.

The plane had its first flight for about two hours and a half hours. It hit a top speed of 304 kilometers per hour (189 mph) and reached an altitude of 17,000 feet or 5,182 meters.

“What a fantastic first flight,” said Jean Floyd, CEO of Stratolaunch.”Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground-launched systems,” he added.</s>The world's largest aircraft by wingspan completed a successful first flight over California's Mojave Desert on Saturday.

The gigantic, six-engine aircraft known as Stratolaunch has a 385-foot wingspan, weighs about 500,000 pounds and is the dream of late Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. It's so large that it needs two cockpits and it's powered by six Boeing 747 engines.

Stratolaunch Systems Corp. Chief Executive Jean Floyd said Saturday the aircraft made a "spectacular" landing that was on the mark. Stratolaunch, which was founded by Allen, is vying to be a contender in the market for air-launching small satellites. He died in October.

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"It was an emotional moment for me, to personally watch this majestic bird take flight, to see Paul Allen's dream come to life in front of my very eyes," Floyd told a teleconference briefing.

Floyd said that as the plane lifted off, "I did whisper a 'thank you' to Paul for allowing me to be part of this remarkable achievement."

The twin-fuselage Stratolaunch jet lifted off from Mojave Air and Space Port shortly before 7 a.m. and climbed into the desert sky 70 miles north of Los Angeles. The jet flew for two and a half hours, achieving a maximum speed of 189 mph and altitudes up to 17,000 feet, the company said.

Test pilot Evan Thomas of Scaled Composites LLC, which built the aircraft, said the flight overall was "fantastic" and for the most part the plane flew as predicted.

"The airplane very nicely, smoothly rotated and really just lifted off the ground," he said. "It definitely was ready to fly and wanted to fly and climbed out quickly."

Thomas said there were "a few little things that were off-nominal but really for a first flight it was spot-on." He did not specify what those things were, and briefing participants did not take questions.

The aircraft is designed to carry as many as three satellite-laden rockets at a time under the center of its enormous wing.

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Air-launch systems have a number of advantages, including being able to use numerous airports and avoid the limitations of fixed launch sites which can be impacted by weather, air traffic and ship traffic on ocean ranges.

Allen founded Stratolaunch Systems Corp. in 2011 after emerging in aerospace by funding the development of the experimental air-launched SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 became the first privately built manned rocket to reach space.

The Stratolaunch aircraft emerged from its Mojave hangar for the first time in May 2017 and proceeded through ground tests, including taxiing and rolling down a runway at near-takeoff speeds.

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While Stratolaunch calls its aircraft the world's largest, other airplanes exceed it in length from nose to tail. They include the six-engine Antonov AN 225 cargo plane, which is 275.5 feet long, and the Boeing 747-8, which is just over 250 feet long.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>Los Angeles: The world’s largest aircraft in terms of distance between the wings succeeded in finishing its first flight, the manufacturer announced.

According to DPA, the double-body aircraft built by Stratolaunch Systems Corp, started by late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, with a distance between the ends of the wings is 117 metres, more than the length of a US football field, stayed aloft for more than two hours before landing safely back at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

“What a wonderful first flight, today’s journey enhances our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground-based systems,” said Stratolaunch CEO Jean Floyd in a statement. He added “Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground launched systems. Saturday’s flight, which saw the plane was meant to test its performance and handling qualities, according to Stratolaunch.

The plane took off on Saturday from Mojave Air and Space Port, about 150 kilometres north Los Angeles in California, reached a maximum speed of 189 miles per hour and altitudes of 17,000 feet, and carried out many maneuvers including landing simulation. –ONA</s>(Reuters) - The world’s largest aircraft took off over the Mojave Desert in California on Saturday, the...</s>Stratolaunch, the world’s largest plane by wingspan and the brainchild of late Silicon Valley billionaire Paul Allen, finally took off at around 10:00 a.m. local time on Saturday for a two and a half hour inaugural flight, the Washington Post reported.



Stratolaunch is 500,000 pounds, much of which is due to its twin fuselage-design and six 747 jet engines, and it boasts an unprecedented 385-foot wingspan (beating out even Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose). It attained a maximum flight speed of 189 miles per hour during its morning flight on Saturday, which saw it taking off from California’s Mojave Air and Space Port.

The Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites built the plane, which was was first announced in 2011 and remained on the ground far beyond its originally planned first test flight date in 2016. According to CNN, the cost of the project remains unknown, but it is made out of carbon fiber material instead of aluminum, and it reduced costs by using components originally designed for the 747, like the Pratt & Whitney engines and its 28 wheels.



One might wonder the need for such an aircraft; only a handful of twin-fuselage planes have been developed in the past few decades. It’s spaceflight. The craft is designed to fly as many as three rockets to approximately 35,000 feet in the air, where they can be air-launched at a lower cost and with less overhead than a traditional launchpad. This method also saves on fuel and minimizes complications from bad weather, as the plane can simply fly over storm systems. While Northrop Grumman is already planning on using the Stratolaunch to launch Pegasus XL rockets, other private companies, NASA, and the military have all expressed interest in the project.

Allen died late last year of complications related to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, though the project continued in his stead.

“We finally did it,” Stratolaunch Systems CEO Jean Floyd told reporters, per CNN. “It was an emotional moment to watch this bird take flight... I had imagined this moment for years, but I had never imagined it without Paul standing next to me.”

“For the most part, the plane flew as predicted,” test pilot Evan Thomas, who previously flew F-16s for the Air Force, told CNN. “It was overall fantastic. I honestly could not have hoped for more on a first flight, especially of an airplane of this complexity and this uniqueness.”

As CNN noted, the Stratolaunch will still need to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, which will require many more test flights, before it can start launching payloads off the planet. It is also facing competition from Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit, which is using a modified Boeing 747-400 aircraft that is likely to face fewer regulatory hurdles.
Scaled Composites Stratolaunch, an aircraft with the largest wingspan ever to fly, makes its maiden flight over California, United States.