Stratolaunch

Ukraine’s Antonov An-225 was previously the world’s largest plane, that is, until billionaire Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch rolled its low-orbit-launch aircraft out of the company’s hangar in the California desert for the first time. Its wings span 385-feet – larger than the An-225’s 290 feet, and is powered by six high-bypass-ratio turbofan engines. Allen intentds to “provide convenient, reliable, and routine access to low-Earth orbit.” This is why it has a designed maximum takeoff weight of 1.3 million pounds. “This marks a historic step in our work to achieve Paul G. Allen’s vision of normalizing access to low-Earth orbit. We have a lot of exciting activity ahead as we enter the testing process, and we look forward to sharing our progress during the coming months,” said Stratolaunch Systems CEO Jean Floyd. Click here to view the first image in today’s viral picture gallery. Continue reading for the five most popular viral videos today, including one of a waterless toilet backed by Bill Gates.

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A technology, gadget and video game enthusiast that loves covering the latest industry news. Favorite trade show? Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.