World's largest aircraft pokes its nose out of the hangar

Published on 02/06/2017 - 11:53

Stratolaunch is a massive aircraft. It is designed to launch rockets into space.

It comes with a wingspan of 117 metres or 385 feet. That makes it longer than a football pitch. Its twin fuselages stretch 75 metres or 285 feet.

This compares with Airbus’ A380, which has a wingspan of 80 metres.

It is a big beast and weighs almost 230,000 kilograms. It is powered by six engines of the same type used by Boeing 747s.

It is hoped that it will be a cheaper option when it comes to launching low-orbit satellites.

The advantage of this plane is that it can be used at numerous airports and is not restricted to fixed-launched sites that can be affected by weather.

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