The world’s widest plane featuring two separate fuselages had its second test flight Thursday, marking a successful venture for Stratolaunch’s Roc carrier plane.
The giant plane features a wingspan of 385 feet and six engines. It took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in southeastern California on a data-gathering flight that lasted three hours and 14 minutes.
Engineers on the project eventually want to use the carrier to launch a reusable hypersonic flight research vehicle called the Talon-A craft, which is 28 feet long. Hypersonic refers to flights at speeds of at least Mach 5 — five times the speed of sound.
“We’re very pleased with how the Stratolaunch aircraft performed today, and we are equally excited about how much closer the aircraft is to launching its first hypersonic vehicle,” said Stratolaunch Chief Operating Officer Zachary Krevor during a news conference Thursday.
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Touchdown!! Successful flight tests to round out the day. What a beautiful sight. pic.twitter.com/gdssjvoN8x
— Stratolaunch (@Stratolaunch) April 29, 2021
An expendable variant of the Talon-A will likely reach hypersonic speeds in 2022, followed by a reusable launch attempt in 2023.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is the developer of the Roc aircraft. He died just months before it flew for the first time in April 2019.
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The initial intent of the world’s widest aircraft was to carry satellites with rockets under the center of the wing and release them at higher altitudes.
