World's largest aircraft took off

Created on 25.04.2019 10:12

It is reported by Euronews, that  the American company Stratolaunch successfully carried out the long-awaited first flight of the world's largest aircraft from the air and space port in the Mojave desert (California) on April 13 . 

Machine under the unofficial name "Ruh" — named after the giant bird from Arabic legends. By wingspan — 117 meters — this is the largest aircraft in history. It is equipped with six engines on a dual fuselage.

The system is designed for air launch of space rockets. Maximum takeoff weight of Stratolaunch is 589,7 tons, it can carry an external payload of 250 tons; operating range is 1850 km. Engineers hope to launch the first satellite next year.

Earlier, the largest aircraft was considered to be the cargo plane An-225 "Mriya". The six-engine An-225 was built in 1985-1988 to transport "Buran" space shuttle and parts of "Energia" launch vehicle. After the completion of the program, the aircraft began to be used for commercial transportation of oversized and heavy cargo.

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