Stratolaunch Systems Corporation has successfully completed the first flight of the world’s largest all-composite aircraft, the Stratolaunch.
With a dual fuselage design and wingspan larger than the length of a football pitch, the Stratolaunch flew over the Mojave Desert for two and a half hours at heights of up to 17,000 feet.
As part of the initial flight, the pilots evaluated aircraft performance and handling qualities before landing successfully back at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
The Stratolaunch has been designed, developed, built, and tested in collaboration with Scaled Composites, with it beginning work on the aircraft in 2012.
Grace Wang, Design Engineer at Scaled Composites, said: “Thinking about Stratolaunch flying, it's just another first flight of another type, but at the same time, it’s a whole different kind of plane.”
Jean Floyd, CEO of Stratolaunch, said: “What a fantastic first flight. 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.”