Flying Magazine reports, “A heavily modified Boeing 777-200ER formerly operated by Japan Air Lines will soon become NASA’s largest flying science laboratory. The retired commercial jet arrived at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia on Wednesday following a check flight and three-hour transit from Waco, Texas, where L3Harris since January 2025 had been making structural modifications. It will replace the space agency’s retired Douglas DC-8, which flew its final science mission in 2024 after 37 years in service.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
Tag: Largest
Stratolaunch TA-1 Hypersonic Test Vehicle Makes First Powered Flight
Flying Magazine reports, “Stratolaunch has completed the first powered flight of its TA-1 test vehicle, marking what the company called a ‘major milestone in the development of the country’s first privately funded, reusable hypersonic test capability.’”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
World’s Largest Aircraft Flies Record Test Flight Carrying Hypersonic Talon-A
The Daily Mail (UK) reports that the world’s largest aircraft “with a 383-foot wingspan recently took to the skies over the Mojave Desert in California to complete a six-hour test flight for a new record.” The Stratolaunch Roc carrier plane “conducted its second test flight Friday morning while carrying the Talon-A separation test vehicle.” The flight is “a significant step for the company’s progress toward the separation test and its first hypersonic flight of TA-1 within the first half of 2023.” The primary objectives “for Friday’s flight, which is the craft’s ninth take off, included flight outside of the local Mojave area for the first time and evaluation of the separation environment.” Zachary Krevor, chief executive officer and president of Stratolaunch, said in a statement: “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.”
Full Story (Daily Mail)