Massive Stratolaunch aircraft takes off on 2nd test flight
This handout artist's rendition provided by Stratolaunch Systems on December 13, 2011 shows the company's new carrier aircraft. Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen on Tuesday announced plans for a new space travel system that would use the largest airplan
MOJAVE, Calif. - The gigantic Stratolaunch aircraft flew Thursday for its second time, taking to the skies over the Southern California desert
The six-engine jet with the world’s longest wingspan took off from Mojave Air and Space Port two years after its maiden flight, following a change in ownership and purpose.
"We are airborne," the Stratolaunch company tweeted at about 7:30 a.m.
Named Roc, the twin-fuselage aircraft has a wingspan of 385 feet (117 meters). It was developed by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, who died just months before it flew for the first time in April 2019.
Allen intended to use it as a carrier aircraft for space launches, carrying satellite-laden rockets beneath the center of the wing and releasing them at high altitude.
The new owners initially plan to use it as a carrier aircraft for launches of reusable hypersonic flight research vehicles.
Hypersonic describes flights at speeds of at least Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.