The world’s largest aircraft rolled out of its California desert hangar for the first time with plans to be fully operational by the end of the decade.

Paul Allen, co-founder, Microsoft, unveiled the twin-fuselage Stratolaunch, which has a wingspan of 385 feet — making it the largest plane in the world — and features six Boeing 747 engines and 27 wheels. It is expected to have a range of 2,000 nautical miles flying at the altitude of 35,000 feet, roughly the same as commercial planes.

“Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be actively conducting ground and flight time testing at the Mojave Air and Space Port,” said Jean Floyd, chief executive officer, Stratolaunch.

The aircraft isn’t meant to carry passengers. It’s designed to launch satellites into space from low Earth orbit, saving jet fuel compared to the process of launching them from the ground and greatly reducing the cost of sending cargo into space. It is designed to launch multiple rockets from a moving aircraft, which avoids weather problems that afflict many rocket launches.

The aircraft moved out of its hangar for aircraft fueling tests and expects to demonstrate its first launch as early as 2019.

Stratolaunch’s vision is to normalize access to low Earth orbit as it has the potential to redefine everyday life by creating more opportunities for commercial, philanthropic and governmental organizations to collect actionable data to drive growth in science, research and technology from space.