The biggest plane in the world has wings longer than a football field. See its latest flight
- Stratolaunch Roc, the world’s biggest airplane, completed its ninth test flight over Mojave Desert.
- Made to carry rockets and smaller vehicles, the Roc is also called a mothership aircraft.
- The recent test flight across southeastern California lasted six hours, its longest to date.
- With a wingspan of 385 ft., it’s longer than a football field and powered by six Boeing 747 engines.
The world’s biggest airplane designed to carry air-launch-to-orbit rockets and hypersonic vehicles just completed its longest test flight to date.
The Stratolaunch Roc, developed by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen and manufactured by U.S. aerospace company Stratolaunch Systems, on January 13 completed its ninth test flight. All of the flights have been in the Mojave Desert, the first in 2019, but this was the first time for the airplane flying outside of the Mojave range, the company said.Â
The plane is the biggest all-composite plane ever constructed – made out of carbon fiber from two deconstructed Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets that were once flown by United Airlines. It’s designed to take off and land using an airport runway, unlike other hypersonic planes, and has room to carry up to three rockets.Â
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Measuring around 239 feet in length and 50 feet in height – the plane can carry a total payload of 500,000 pounds and requires a runway that’s at least 12,000 feet long.Â
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Camille Fine is a trending visual producer on USA TODAY’s NOW team.Â
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