A giant aircraft with two fuselages has successfully touched down after completing its first flight.
The Stratolaunch jet, which has the biggest wingspan of any plane ever built, landed two hours after taking off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
The plane's wingspan is longer than an American football field.
The jet hit altitudes of up to 17,000 feet above the Mojave Desert while performance and handling qualities were evaluated.
It reached 189mph during the flight and spent two-and-a-half hours in the air.
Jean Floyd, CEO of Stratolaunch said: "What a fantastic first flight.
"Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground launched systems.
"We are incredibly proud of the Stratolaunch team, today’s flight crew, our partners at Northrup Grumman’s Scaled Composites and the Mojave Air and Space Port.”
During the flight the plane performed a variety of flight control manoeuvres to calibrate speed and test flight control systems, including roll doublets, yawing manoeuvres, pushovers and pull-ups, and steady heading side slips, according to the company's website.
They also conducted a simulated landing approach exercise at a max altitude of 15,000 feet.
Established by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Stratolaunch is vying to be a contender in the satellite launch market. Mr Allen died in October 2018.
The aircraft is designed to release rockets attached to the centre of its enormous wing, which stretches 385 feet from tip to tip.
The reinforced centre wing can support multiple launch vehicles, weighing up to a total of 500,000 pounds.
“We all know Paul would have been proud to witness today’s historic achievement,” said Jody Allen, Chair of Vulcan Inc. and Trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust. “The aircraft is a remarkable engineering achievement and we congratulate everyone involved.”
