World’s Largest Airplane Flies a Fifth Time, Moving Closer to Hypersonic Tests

The world’s largest airplane, Stratolaunch’s Roc, took off from California’s Mojave Air and Space Port (KMHV) Wednesday, flying for the first time with a new pylon crucial to the carrier aircraft’s success.

Thom Patterson

Wednesday, May 04, 2022 at 10:40 AM ET

Verified

A view of Stratolaunch’s one-of-a-kind airplane as it flew overhead Wednesday at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port. [Courtesy: Stratolaunch]

Key Takeaways:

Stratolaunch's *Roc*, the world's largest airplane, completed its fifth and longest test flight, primarily focusing on the first test of a newly installed pylon.
This pylon is crucial for *Roc*'s core mission, allowing it to function as a "flying launch pad" for autonomous, rocket-powered hypersonic testbeds like the Talon-A.
The successful test of this key component advances *Roc*'s development towards supporting U.S. military hypersonic research and threat replication, with increased flight testing planned for operational readiness by mid-to-late 2023.

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The world’s largest airplane, Stratolaunch’s Roc, completed its fifth flight from California’s Mojave Air and Space Port (KMHV) Wednesday—the first test of a pylon crucial to the carrier aircraft’s success.

Under clear skies and calm winds, Roc’s six Pratt & Whitney PW4056 turbofans and 385-foot wings lifted the 500,000-pound, twin-fuselage jet above Runway 30 at about 7:40 a.m. PT. In its longest test flight so far–nearly five hours–the airplane touched down back at KMHV, at 12:37 p.m. PT.