On Wednesday, 31 May 2017, the gargantuan Stratolaunch aeroplane was rolled out of its hangar at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California for the first time. Its 117.35-m (385-ft) wingspan is the largest of any aircraft.The Stratolaunch project is the brainchild Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The plane, built by California aerospace company Scaled Composites, is designed to carry space rockets to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere – which is more cost-effective than launching them from the ground. Powered by six Boeing 747 engines, the twin-fuselage aircraft can carry a payload of up to 226,796 kg (500,000 lb). It completed its first successful engine test in September 2017, and is due to make its first flight in 2019.