{"id":18318,"date":"2018-10-11T20:35:53","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T12:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/paul-allens-giant-stratolaunch-plane-gets-closer-to-first-flight-with-80-mph-taxi-test\/"},"modified":"2018-10-11T20:35:53","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T12:35:53","slug":"paul-allens-giant-stratolaunch-plane-gets-closer-to-first-flight-with-80-mph-taxi-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/paul-allens-giant-stratolaunch-plane-gets-closer-to-first-flight-with-80-mph-taxi-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Allen\u2019s giant Stratolaunch plane gets closer to first flight with 80 mph taxi test"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stratolaunch
Mountains loom in the distance as Stratolaunch Systems\u2019 twin-fuselage airplane is taken out for testing at California\u2019s Mojave Air and Space Port. (Stratolaunch Photo via Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The world\u2019s biggest airplane, built by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen\u2019s Stratolaunch Systems, is one step closer to making its first flight after buzzing down the runway at California\u2019s Mojave Air and Space Port this week at speeds as fast as 80 mph.<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch\u2019s latest round of taxi tests checked off another item on the seven-year-old company\u2019s to-do list in advance of flight testing. Those test flights are expected to lead to in-the-air rocket launches by as early as 2020.<\/p>\n

Based on a development plan laid out this spring, future rounds of taxi tests should reach on-the-ground speeds of roughly 100 mph, and then 140 mph. A speed of 140 mph, or 120 knots, is roughly what it\u2019ll take for takeoff of the twin-fuselage plane, which has a record-setting wingspan of 385 feet.<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch and its executives hailed this week\u2019s runway tests in a series of tweets:<\/p>\n