On Wednesday, the Stratolaunch megaplane rolled out of the Scaled Composites factory in California's Mojave Desert for the first time. It's been six years since American billionaire Paul Allen set off on his journey in a big plane.
With a wingspan of 117 meters, the plane is eight meters longer than an American football field and three times the wingspan of a Boeing 737, he wrote. Technical Weekly.
Fully loaded, the aircraft will weigh 590 tons.
The aircraft was designed to be a flying launch platform for the launcher. The rocket will be installed under the Stratolaunch and released when the plane reaches an altitude of 9,000 meters.
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According to Paul Allen, sending people into space using large spacecraft may also be relevant.
Before Stratolaunch, it was eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes who held the world record for the largest airplane. In 1942, he designed an airplane that was given the nickname “Spruce Goose” because, among other things, spruce trees were used in its construction. The aircraft had a wingspan of 97.54 meters, but did not make more than one flight before being grounded.
Now the Stratolaunch testing phase begins. First on the ground, then in the air.
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