Scaled 351 Stratolaunch
Stratolaunch is the world’s widest aircraft by wingspan, built to carry rockets beneath the centre section of its twin-fuselage wing. Six Boeing 747 engines provide the thrust needed to lift the enormous aircraft, which has a wingspan larger than a football field. It first flew in 2019 and is now used as a high-altitude launch platform for hypersonic test vehicles. Its paired fuselages and immense wing make it impossible to confuse with any other aircraft.
Did you know?
Nicknamed 'Roc' after the mythical giant bird, it reused engines, landing gear and cockpit parts salvaged from two second-hand Boeing 747s.
Specifications
| Length | 73.2 m (240 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 117.4 m (385 ft) |
| Height | 15.2 m (50 ft) |
| Crew | 3 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 589 t |
| Range | 2,200 NM (4,074 km) |
| Maximum speed | 300 kt (556 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 35,000 ft (10,668 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 35,000 ft (10,668 m) |
| Engines | 6x Pratt & Whitney PW4056 |
| Units built | 1 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Scaled 351 Stratolaunch starts as a Legendary catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you. The first catch of a legendary type pays a bonus of its own.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Scaled, the 351 Stratolaunch family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
Catch it yourself.CatchFlights shows the aircraft flying near you on a radar, so a type like this one is only a catch away when it passes overhead. Explore CatchFlights.
Browse all aircraft types, or learn to tell Airbus from Boeing.