World's largest plane Stratolaunch soars to a record height of 27,000 feet

Stratolaunch today completed the seventh test flight of its huge Roc carrier plane, achieving a world record altitude for such a large aircraft in the process. The effort was also used to examine the in-flight performance of new pylon hardware that will propel smaller hypersonic planes from high altitudes and across long distances at speeds of over Mach 5 in flight.

Stratolaunch's Roc was originally conceived as a carrier for rockets and satellites, allowing them to be shot into low-Earth orbit from the stratosphere. Stratolaunch has recently repurposed its enormous plane, which includes six Boeing engines and two side-by-side fuselages with a wingspan of 385 feet (117 m), as a platform for hypersonic research vehicles.

In 2020, Boeing showed what these vehicles will look like early in the development process, revealing the Talon-A concept. It's meant for fast and consistent hypersonic flights that can take off and land itself on a runway, as well as being launched from the Roc carrier aircraft. Last month, Boeing unveiled a test vehicle called TA-O as part of its hypersonic program.

Stratolaunch meanwhile has been working on the Roc plane, which will be equipped with the pylon hardware necessary to put Talon-A into flight. The pylon, which weighs approximately 8,000 lb (3,629 kg) and measures 14 ft (4.3 m) across the center of the Roc's wingspan, includes a winching system for lifting the Talon-A into position.

The company's testing efforts behind the pylon on aircraft have been focused on validating this new configuration in flight, and they're now claiming success in a few areas. The Roc plane took off for a three-hour journey across the Mojave Desert, reaching 27,000 ft (8,200 m) above sea level, where it had its greatest altitude achieved throughout testing to date.

According to the business, the flight also supported recent testing activities by further validating the aircraft's overall performance and handling with the pylon on board, as well as land gear function. The firm plans to conduct its first full release during a flight later this year after successfully integrating the TA-O test vehicle into the carrier airplane for the first time.