On the desert and with six engines: the giant Stratolaunch flew for the first time

A gigantic six-jet aircraft and the world's longest range completed what the company considered a magnificent first flight over the Mojave Desert in California, marking the dream of former co-founder of Microsoft, Paul G. Allen.

The aircraft made a "spectacular" landing as planned, Jean Floyd, CEO of Stratolaunch Systems Corp., said Saturday. The company, created by Allen, tries to compete in the small satellite launch market. He died in October.

"It was a moving moment for me personally to see this majestic bird take off, to see Paul Allen's dream come to life before my eyes," Floyd said at a teleconference.

As the plane rose, he added, "I murmured a" thank you "to Paul for allowing me to take part in this remarkable achievement."

The huge double fuselage jet left the Mojave airspace and harbor just before 7 am. Saturday and I returned to paradise on the desert 112 kilometers north of Los Angeles. The aircraft flew for two and a half hours, reaching a top speed of 304 kilometers per hour and a maximum altitude of 5,181 meters, the company said.

Evan Thomas test pilot of Scaled Composites LLC, who built the aircraft, said the flight was usually "fantastic" and that most of the time the plane had flown as planned.

"The plane went down very well on the runway and really took off from the ground," he said. "I was really ready to fly and I wanted to fly and it grew quickly."

Thomas said that there were "a few things that came out of the ordinary, but really for a first flight that was very correct". He did not specify what these things were and he did not receive any questions.

The aircraft is designed to carry up to three rockets with its satellites at the same time under the center of its huge wing, which reaches 117 meters (385 feet) more than any other aircraft.

The rockets would ignite their engines at 10,668 meters (35,000 feet) in height and leave in space.

The advantage of air launch systems is that they can use different airports and avoid the limitations of fixed launch sites, which can be affected by weather conditions, air traffic and shipping traffic.

Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, created Stratolaunch Systems Corp. in 2011 after funding the development of SpaceShipOne, which became in 2004 the first inhabited rocket of private manufacturing to reach the space.

After the death of Allen in October 2018, Stratolaunch abandoned its plans to build a rocket engine and a series of launchers to focus more on the giant aircraft and to launch the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL, whose performance is reliable.

The Stratolaunch left its hangar in the Mojave Desert for the first time in May 2017 and conducted several ground tests, including moving along the runway at a speed close to takeoff.

Propelled by the same type of engines as the Boeing 747, it is designed to take off with a maximum weight of 589,676 kilos (1.3 million pounds). Its two fuselages – something resembling the aerial equivalent of a catamaran – are 72.5 meters (238 feet) long.

The main disk belonged to the H-4 Hercules engine of the Second World War built by Howard Hughes. This airplane, which survived in an aviation museum, has a wingspan of 97.5 meters (320 feet) and a length of 67 meters (219 feet).

Although Stratolaunch says its plane is the longest in the world, others surpbad it in length from tube to tail, such as the Antonov AN 225 hexamotractor, 84 meters long, and the Boeing 747. -8, 76.3 meters (250 feet).