Stratolaunch Roc, the world's largest aircraft, is back to show its teeth. The iron bird soared through the skies of California, United States.
Dubbed as the largest aircraft because Stratolaunch Roc because it has a weight of 226.7 tons with a wingspan of 117 meters. In addition, this one giant has six jet engines accompanied by 28 wheels.
When compared with the Antonov An-225 Mriya, which was just destroyed by Russia, which invaded Ukraine since February 24, the Stratolaunch Roc has two bodies by combining two Boeing 747 jumbo jets.
This unique design serves a purpose. Stratolaunch Roc is designed not to carry passengers, but to carry rockets that will be launched while in the air.
Well, recently, Stratolaunch Roc has just completed its fourth test flight. The legacy plane from the late Microsoft founder, Paul Allen, took off from Mojave Air and Space Sport in California, USA.
Stratolaunch Roc flies for one hour 43 minutes with a maximum altitude of 15 thousand feet or 4,572 meters from the mainland.
Quoted from Space, Wednesday (2/3/2022) this flight is focused on testing the retraction of the landing gear and expanding the capabilities of the Stratolaunch Roc.
The Stratolaunch aircraft, a six-engine jet with the world's longest wingspan takes off from Mojave Air and Space Port during craft's second flight, Thursday, April 29, 2021in Mojave, Calif. The gigantic aircraft has flew for the second time in two years. (AP Photo/Matt Hartman) Photo: AP/Matt Hartman
"Today's successful flight demonstrated and validated improvements to the aircraft carrier system and overall flight performance," said Stratolaunch CEO Zachary Krevor.
"The recall and extension of the full landing gear brings the carrier aircraft closer to operational status, a necessary milestone to prepare the aircraft for separation and hypersonic flight tests later this year."
Paul Allen founded Stratolaunch Roc in 2011. The presence of the largest aircraft in the world to be an alternative to launching satellites in the air. But unfortunately, Allen died in October 2018 and did not get to see his work proudly air in April 2019.
A few months later, the Stratolaunch company was sold to new owners for an estimated $400 million at the time.