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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonov An-225 Mriya | 2/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225_Mriya | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T12:39:25.846303+00:00 | kb-cron |
The revival of space activities involving the An-225 was repeatedly announced and speculated upon throughout its life. During the early 2000s, studies were conducted into the production of an even larger An‑225 derivative, the eight-engined Antonov An-325, which was intended to be used in conjunction with Russia's in-development MAKS space plane. In April 2013, the Russian government announced plans to revive Soviet-era air launch projects that would use a purpose-built modification to the An-225 as a midair launchpad. In May 2017, Airspace Industry Corporation of China (AICC)'s president, Zhang You-Sheng, told a BBC reporter that AICC had first considered cooperating with Antonov in 2009 and had made contact with them two years later. AICC intends to modernize the second unfinished An-225 and develop it into an air launch to orbit platform for commercial satellites at altitudes up to 12,000 m (39,000 ft). The aviation media cast doubt on the production restart, speculating that the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war would prevent various necessary components that would have been sourced from Russia from being delivered; it may be possible that China could manufacture them instead. That project did not move forward but UkrOboronProm, the parent company of Antonov, had continued to seek partners to finish the second airframe. On 25 March 2020, the first An-225 commenced a series of test flights from Hostomel Airport near Kyiv, after more than a year out of service, for the installation of a domestically designed power management and control system.
== Design ==
The Antonov An-225 was a strategic airlift cargo aircraft that retained many similarities with the preceding An‑124 airlifter from which it was derived. It had a longer fuselage and cargo deck due to the addition of fuselage barrel extensions that were fitted both fore and aft of the wings. The wings, which were anhedral, also received root extensions to increase their span. The flight control surfaces were controlled via fly-by-wire and powered by triple-redundant hydraulics. Furthermore, the empennage of the An-225 was a twin tail with an oversized, swept-back horizontal stabilizer, having been redesigned from the single vertical stabilizer of the An-124. The use of a twin tail arrangement was essential to enable the aircraft to carry its bulky external loads that would generate wake turbulence, disturbing the airflow around a conventional tail. The An-225 was powered by a total of six Progress D-18T turbofan engines, two more than the An-124, the addition of which was facilitated by the redesigned wing root area. An increased-capacity landing gear system with 32 wheels was designed, some of which are steerable; these enable the airlifter to turn within a 60-metre-wide (200 ft) runway. Akin to its An-124 predecessor, the An-225 incorporated a nose gear designed to "kneel" so cargo can be more easily loaded and unloaded. Additional measures to ease loading and unloading activities included the four overhead cargo cranes that could move along the whole length of the cargo hold, each of which was capable of lifting up to 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb). To facilitate the attachment of external loads, such as the Buran orbiter, various mounting points were present along the upper surface of the fuselage.
Unlike the An-124, the An-225 was not intended for tactical airlifting and was not designed for short-field operations. Accordingly, the An-225 does not have a rear cargo door or ramp, as are present on the An-124, these features having been eliminated in order to save weight. The cargo hold was 1,300 m3 (46,000 cu ft) in volume; 6.4 m (21 ft) wide, 4.4 m (14 ft) high, and 43.35 m (142 ft 3 in) long—longer than the first flight of the Wright Flyer. The cargo hold, which was pressurized and furnished with extensive soundproofing, could contain up to 80 standard-dimension cars, 16 intermodal containers, or up to 250,000 kilograms (551,150 lb) of general cargo. The flight deck of the An-225 was at the front of the upper deck, which was accessed via a ladder from the lower deck. This flight deck was largely identical to that of the An-124, save for the presence of additional controls to manage the additional pair of engines. To the rear of the flight deck was an array of compartments which, amongst other things, accommodated the crew stations for the aircraft's two flight engineers, navigator, and communication specialist, along with off-duty rest areas, including beds, which facilitated long range missions to be flown. Even when fully loaded, the An-225 was capable of flying non-stop across great distances, such as between New York and Los Angeles. As originally constructed, the An-225 had a maximum gross weight of 600 t (660 short tons), however, between 2000 and 2001, the aircraft received numerous modifications at a cost of US$20 million, such as the addition of a reinforced floor, which increased the maximum gross weight to 640 t (710 short tons). Both the earlier and later takeoff weights establish the An-225 as the world's heaviest aircraft, exceeding the weight of the double-deck Airbus A380 airliner. Airbus claims to have improved upon the An-225's maximum landing weight by landing an A380 at 591.7 t (652.2 short tons) during testing.
== Operational history ==