The world's largest plane, called the Stratolaunch Roc, spends 6 hours flying and breaks a new record. The model is the current replacement for the An-225 Mriya, the former largest plane in the world that was destroyed during the war between Russia and Ukraine.

after the Antonov An-225 Mriya be destroyed during the war between Russia and Ukraine, the gigantic Stratolaunch Roc took the title of the largest plane in the world and, last Friday (13), broke the record for time in the air. The model, in its 9th test, flew for six hours above the Mojave desert, located in California, United States. The model has 117 meter wingspan, being larger than a football field, 15 meters high and 73 meters long.

Stratolaunch Roc could launch several hypersonic vehicles

The largest plane in the world has 6 Pratt & Whitney PW4056 turbofan engines with 252.4 kN. According to Stratolaunch CEO and President Zachary Krevor, his incredible team continues to make progress on its testing schedule, and it is their hard work that is bringing the company closer than ever to safe separation and its first flight tests. hypersonic.

Those flights will, in the near future, be performed by hypersonic testing, with the Roc carrying the company's Talon-A testbed, a rocket-powered vehicle capable of carrying customizable payloads and reaching speeds in excess of Mach 5.

The new biggest plane in the world can launch multiple hypersonic vehicles in a single mission. For this function, the aircraft uses a pylon, whose function is to load and release the Talon-A. During this seventh flight, a newly installed pylon was tested, along with the plane's handling characteristics.

Stratolaunch Roc and its commercial use in the coming year

Stratolaunch has recently integrated the TA-0, the first hypersonic Talon-A test vehicle, indicating that the transport and launch of these vehicles may soon be tested. In parallel, system integration is being carried out for the TA-1 hypersonic flight test vehicle and for a third, TA-2, which is the company's first reusable vehicle.

According to the company, the expectation is that the hypersonic flight services of the largest aircraft in the world will be available to market or government customers as early as next year.

Last year, Stratolaunch Roc remained in flight for 3 hours and reached an altitude of 8.200 meters. This was the highest altitude reached by the aircraft throughout its development, generating an effort in the company's expectations.

Krevor stressed at the time that the flight performed is a success story of the Stratolaunch team's ability to expand the operational pace to the pace desired by its customers for testing frequent hypersonic flights.

The executive added that it was possible to demonstrate the performance of the current largest aircraft in the world, necessary for its Talon hypersonic vehicle to reach its extensive design range of hypersonic conditions.

Meet the Antonov An-225 Mriya

The Antonov An-225, which was the largest plane in the world for several years, was destroyed in February last year at the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The freighter was hit in the attack on the Gostomel airport, close to the capital Kiev, and ended up being one of the milestones in the fight between the countries, as it is considered a source of pride for the Ukrainians.

The plane could not be removed from the site after the start of the conflict because it was undergoing maintenance after its last flight at the beginning of the same month. Another allegation about what would have prevented the withdrawal is that the runway where he was had been damaged, making it impossible to take off.

The destruction of the plane also called into question the future of the company responsible, Antonov. Due to the inability to operate flights from Kiev, the company temporarily moved its base of operations to Leipzig, Germany.