Stratolaunch, the world’s largest plane, made its first flight on Saturday. The company ultimately intends to launch rockets from the plane into orbit.
First flight of the Stratolaunch, which is intended to serve as a platform to send rockets into space. Stratolaunch Systems
On Saturday, the world’s largest aircraft, the Stratolaunch, made its first complete test flight. The aircraft flew for about two and a half hours over the Mojave desert, reaching a speed of 179 miles per hour and an altitude of 17,000 feet.
The aircraft was created by the Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, which was founded by the late Paul Allen. The purpose of the plane isn’t normal commercial travel, but rather to carry rockets into high altitudes, then launch those rockets from the plane itself.
“What a fantastic first flight,” Jean Floyd, CEO of Stratolaunch, said in a statement. “Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground launched systems.”
Stratolaunch in flight on Saturday, April 13Stratolaunch Systems Corporation
Airplane-launched rockets seemed at one point to be a good bet as a way of providing more convenient flights into space. Scaled Composites, a company founded by Burt Rutan, won the Ansari X Prize for launching the first private, reusable spacecraft into space in June of 2004. That effort was backed by Paul Allen, and this approach was the backbone of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.
However, it’s taken much longer than expected to develop these types of spaceflight. Virgin Galactic only first reached a space-approaching altitude at the end of 2018 – 14 years after that first Scaled Composite flight – though it hopes to be providing passenger service as early as later this year.
