To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
The length of a Premier League football pitch? 105 meters. The length of Trafalgar Square in London? 140 metres.
The Stratolaunch Roc – the world’s largest operating plane – is much longer, at 117 metres.
Named after a legendary bird from Middle Eastern folklore, one that is so immense it could snatch off an elephant in its claws, the aircraft looks like two Boeing 747s fused together.
After completing multiple test flights over the years, it was finally spotted cruising over California.
Footage circulating on Reddit shows the experimental plane soaring in the sky and landing in the Mojave Desert.
The Roc is manufactured by US aerospace company Stratolaunch Systems. It was first rolled out in 2017, and had its first test flight in 2019.
Don’t expect to see it at your local airport though.
The carrier plane is designed to carry and launch hypersonic test vehicles like the Talon-A – used as testbeds for developing the next-generation US military technology.
Eventually, the idea is to sue the aircraft to launch rockets into space.
Supported by six 747s engines, the Roc boasts a robust payload capacity of 226,796 kilograms.
In comparison, other giants in the aviation industry – like the double-deck Airbus A380 and the original ‘jumbo jet,’ the Boeing 747, plus the massive cargo hauler, the Antonov An-124 – look miniscule.
All in all, the jet is so large that it requires a runway that is at least 12,000 feet long.
Dr Zachary Krevor, president for Stratolaunch, said in 2023 after another of the Roc’s test flights: ‘Our amazing team is continuing to make progress on our test timeline, and it is through their hard work that we grow closer than ever to safe separation and our first hypersonic flight tests.
‘We are excited for what’s ahead this year as we bring our hypersonic flight test service online for our customers and the nation.’
Its future remains unclear, though. After its first successful test flight, the Roc was put up for sale at $400 million, it was reported by CNBC.
There were a number of potential suitors at the time, from Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to Richard Branson. But none made the investment.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.