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- One of the world’s largest transport aircraft, an Antonov An-124, took off from the military airfield in Emmen LU on Wednesday afternoon.
- On board the machine is a rocket tip produced in Emmen; the destination is the Florida spaceport.
The Russian plane is almost 70 meters long, its wingspan extending to more than 73 meters. In the hold, the Antonov carried a 20-meter rocket tip for the American Atlas V launch vehicle.
The so-called payload fairing had been manufactured at Ruag Space in Emmen and filled almost the entire cargo area of the aircraft, as announced by Ruag.
Last order
In the future, these rocket tips will be manufactured at a Ruag factory in Alabama. This was the last time Antonov stood up from Emmen on behalf of the United Launch Alliance (ULA), Ruag said.
The image shows the impressive dimensions of the Antonov.
Keystone
The ULA is a merger of several companies and is responsible for launching the Atlas rockets. Ruag Space has been working with the ULA for more than ten years. By relocating production of the payload fairing to the US, Ruag was able to strengthen the strategic partnership with ULA, it said.
Emmen will continue to be the center of competence for the European Ariane and Vega launch vehicles, Ruag announced. European rockets have been flying into space with Ruag payload fairings since 1979.
