World's biggest plane flies for the first time

World's biggest plane flies for the first time
Copyright REUTERS/Gene Blevins
By Euronews
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It's almost as big as the International Space station.

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The world's largest plane flew for the first time on Saturday.

The massive airplane was flown at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California. It's almost as big as the International Space Station and can weight up to 500,000 pounds.

Called Roc, the plane took off at  6:58 a.m. PDT (13:58 GMT) and flew for two and a half hours, reaching an altitude of 5,180m and a full speed of 304 km/h, a statement from Stratolaunch said.

Built by the US company Stratolaunch, it is designed to launch rockets from the air. 

Stratolaunch was founded by the billionaire Paul Allen, who died in October 2018.

“What a fantastic first flight,” said Jean Floyd, CEO of Stratolaunchm in a statement. “Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground launched systems. We are incredibly proud of the Stratolaunch team, today’s flight crew, our partners at Northrup Grumman’s Scaled Composites and the Mojave Air and Space Port.”

The trial has been spotted by photographers at the Mojave Air and Space Port. 

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