Stratolaunch’s Roc airplane was built to serve as an inflight launch platform. [Courtesy Stratolaunch]
Key Takeaways:
Stratolaunch's Roc, the world's largest airplane by wingspan, performed taxi tests at California's Mojave Air & Spaceport, marking its first activity in eight months.
These tests are a crucial step in preparing the unique twin-fuselage, six-engine aircraft for its next flight, ensuring all vehicle systems, communications, and subsystems are functioning correctly.
Later this year, Roc is slated to serve as a midair launch platform for hypersonic test vehicles, supporting research for the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency.
For the first time in eight months, the world’s largest airplane—Stratolaunch’s Roc—performed taxi tests Thursday at California’s Mojave Air & Spaceport, north of Los Angeles.
The one-of-a-kind, twin-fuselage, six-engine behemoth was spotted rolling down the facility’s 12,000-foot runway, in preparation for its next flight, which is expected within several weeks.
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Thom is a former senior editor for FLYING. Previously, his freelance reporting appeared in aviation industry magazines. Thom also spent three decades as a TV and digital journalist at CNN’s bureaus in Washington and Atlanta, eventually specializing in aviation. He has reported from air shows in Oshkosh, Farnborough and Paris. Follow Thom on Twitter @thompatterson.
