The world’s largest aircraft has emerged from its California desert hangar for the first time, with the company planning to make it fully operational before the end of the decade.
Backed by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, the twin-fuselage Stratolaunch features a 385-foot wingspan that currently makes it the largest airplane in existence. Powered by six Boeing 747 engines and riding on 27 wheels, the aircraft is designed to cruise at altitudes around 35,000 feet—the same flight level as many commercial airliners—and is expected to achieve a range near 2,000 nautical miles.
“Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be actively conducting ground and flight testing at the Mojave Air and Space Port,” said Jean Floyd, chief executive officer of Stratolaunch.
Unlike passenger airliners, this aircraft is purpose-built to carry and launch rockets in midair to deploy satellites into low Earth orbit. By air-launching payloads, Stratolaunch aims to cut fuel use and lower the cost of getting cargo and small satellites into space compared with traditional ground-launched methods. The ability to release multiple rockets from a moving platform also reduces schedule disruptions caused by adverse weather at ground launch sites.
The plane recently exited its hangar to undergo aircraft fueling tests and other ground preparations, with company plans to progress to flight testing and demonstrate a first launch as early as 2019. Those milestones will be followed by an extended program of flight validation designed to certify operational capabilities for routine missions.
Stratolaunch envisions normalizing access to low Earth orbit by providing a flexible, responsive, and cost-effective launch option. If successful, the system could expand opportunities for commercial, philanthropic, and governmental users to collect actionable data from space, accelerating research, technology development, and new services that rely on timely satellite access.
As the program moves through testing and refinement, engineers will focus on validating in-flight separation and release procedures, integrating a variety of small launch vehicles, and ensuring reliable turnarounds between missions. Those technical achievements, combined with operational reliability, will determine how soon the aircraft can support routine satellite deployments and how broadly the midair launch model can reshape access to space.