09 May 2017
It has been called the 'the largest and heaviest cargo plane in the world' and now, the legendary Antonov An-225 Mriya aircraft could soon take on a new mission. The Airspace Industry Corporation of China (AICC) signed an agreement with the plane's creator, which, if approved, will allow the organization to design its own fleet that would launch commercial satellites into orbit. However, the aerospace and defense firm would 'modernize' the craft in a fashion that would provide it with heavy lifting capabilities that could be 'greater than that of the US military'. The program is working on a strategy that places a satellite on the back of an An-225 and launches it from no more than seven miles (12,000m) in the air.
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