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LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) – The world's largest aircraft took off on Saturday (April 13th) in the Mojave Desert in California, the first carbon-composite aircraft flight built by Stratolaunch Systems Corp, launched by the late co-founder of Microsoft , Paul Allen, when the company enters the lucrative private space market.
The white aircraft called Roc, which has a wingspan of 117 m, a length of American football pitch and is powered by six engines mounted on a twin fuselage, took off shortly before 7 pm Pacific time (22 hours, Singapore time), and remained in flight more than two hours before landing safely at the air and space port of Mojave under the applause of a crowd of hundreds of people.
"What a fantastic first flight," said Stratolaunch's general manager, Jean Floyd, in a statement posted on the company's website.
"Today's flight continues our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground systems," said Floyd.
"We are extremely proud of the Stratolaunch team, today's flight crew, our Northrup Grumman Scaled Composites partners and the Mojave air and space port."
The aircraft is designed to drop rockets and other space vehicles weighing up to 227 kg at an altitude of 35,000 feet. The company said the deployment of the satellite was "as easy as booking an air flight".
The Saturday flight, which saw the plane reach a top speed of 304 km / h and an altitude of 17,000 feet, was to test its performance and handling qualities, according to Stratolaunch.
Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, announced in 2011 that he had created the privately funded Stratolaunch.
The company is seeking to take advantage of increased demand in the coming years for ships capable of putting satellites into orbit, competing in the United States with other space contractors and pillars of the United States. Industry, such as Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX and United Launch Alliance – a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Stratolaunch has announced its intention to launch its first Roc rockets in 2020 at the earliest.
Mr. Allen died in October 2018 while he was suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, just months after the unveiling of the aircraft's development.
"We all know that Paul would have been proud to see the historic success of today," said Jody Allen, chairman of the board of directors of Vulcan Inc. and a trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust. "The device is a remarkable technical achievement and we congratulate everyone involved."
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