The world's largest plane is unveiled, but is it too dangerous to fly?

Stratolaunch will fly just fine, but its missions will be dangerous.

An amazing aircraft has rolled out of its hanger in Mojave, California, but will this massive, revolutionary new design fly, and can it actually launch rockets?

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- It must surely be one of the most dangerous aircraft ever designed. Known as Stratolaunch, the plane aims to be the world's largest.

Stratolaunch has a 385 foot wingspan, which is nearly 1.3 times wider than a football field. It has six 747 engines, stands five stories tall, and can carry 500,000 pounds of payload.

The craft has a twin-fuselage which means it has two bodies connected by a wing.

Stratolaunch is the dream of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and he hopes it will be used to launch rockets into space. The plane is slated for a demonstration in 2019.

Stratolaunch will carry a single rocket under its belly to 36,000 feet or so, then it will drop the rocket as it ignites to climb into space. Meanwhile, Stratolaunch will fly back to Earth, ready to repeat the job as soon as needed.

Such a craft can cut the expense of spaceflight by carrying rockets about 5-6 miles up where the air is thinner and the rocket does not need as much fuel to get into space.

However, the design has an inherent danger -- the rocket. On rare occasions, rockets malfunction and the consequence is always explosive. Slinging a rocket under the belly of an aircraft is naturally dangerous.

Still, this system of ferrying people and small rockets into space is catching on, particularly with Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic has had a twin boom ferry craft for several years, and they hope to use it to launch passengers into space as early as next year.

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