Stratolaunch, the world’s largest plane, completes second test flight

 

The world's largest plane Stratolaunch performs test flight in Mojave, California

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The world's largest plane has completed its second test flight, marking a step forward for next-generation air launch technology.
With a wingspan stretching to 117 metres, wider than the length of a football pitch, the Stratolaunch plane rose to 14,000 feet and reached a top speed of 199mph test flight on Thursday.
"We are airborne,” the company tweeted at around 8.30am local time, as the plane's six-engines propelled it into the sky above the Southern California desert.
The plane's 28 wheels touched down just over three hours later.
Stratolaunch was started in 2011 by Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who passed away before the plane's first test flight took place in April 2019.

 

As global lockdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic limited the extent to which we can travel and go about our daily lives, some companies and individuals have turned to tech to go where humans can't. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been used for everything from spraying disinfectant in cities to delivering essential items and enforcing lockdown rules during the coronavirus crisis. Yet drones had a whole host of surprising uses before the pandemic too – click or scroll through to see the amazing ways drones are going where humans can't.

Originally, the behemoth plane was designed to fly rockets to the edge of space so they could launch mid-air with the company saying it would make satellite deployment as "easy as booking an airline flight." 

But in 2020, Stratolaunch announced it would pivot to focus on launching hypersonic planes which fly five times faster than the speed of sound. 

The company is currently working towards launching its Talon-A prototype hypersonic plane.

Focusing on hypersonic aircraft is likely to mean Stratolaunch will work closely with the US department of defence. 

Military efforts to develop hypersonic weapons is growing increasingly competitive, especially between the US, China and Russia.

Last year, a Pentagon media briefing said development in the field was being driven by "our great power competitors and their attempts to challenge our domain dominance".

David Millman, Stratolaunch’s chief technology officer, told tech news outlet GeekWire: “That’s exactly one of the areas that we’re looking at: how can we help the Department of Defense in mitigating risks for all their extensive flight testing.”   

He added, the company plans to build three hypersonic vehicles and aims to conduct hypersonic tests at least once every 17 days.  

 

Armed forces using drones for surveillance

The German army uses drones created by aviation company EMT to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. The drones, named Aladin, are able to function during day and night and in all weather conditions, and can be dismantled in the field in just five minutes.