Antonov An-225 Mriya

An-225 Mriya
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	The An-225 in its old livery, Circa. 2012
Role	Buran Carrier, Cargo Transport
National origin	Soviet Union
Design group	Antonov
Built by	Antonov Serial Production Plant
First flight	21 December 1988
Retired	February 5th, 2022
Status	Destroyed
Primary user	Antonov Airlines
Produced	1985
Number built	2, one as UR-82060, the other, uncompleted.
Unit cost	250 Million USD- 300 Million USD
Developed from	Antonov An-124

The Antonov An-225 Mriya ^[a] was a Russian/Ukrainian Aircraft, and the largest airplane by weight in the world. It had 6 engines, which was necessary for its sheer size. It was manufactured by a company called Antonov. The Mriya was designed to transport the Russian Shuttle, Space Shuttle Buran. The Buran only flew once, and was successful. However, the funding of Buran was insufficient, and, the project quickly ended. The remaining plane, registration UR-82060, was used to carry very large items that were not efficient by train, to be carried by the Antonov.

The An-225 leaves six vapour trails. That is one for each engine.

The company ownership was changed, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The ownership of Antonov was switched to the country of Ukraine, and all assets were shipped to Kyiv, or Kiev. It was modelled from the Antonov An-124 Ruslan. This plane is big enough to carry a Boeing 747's fuselage. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the last aircraft, UR-82060, was destroyed in the hangar of the airport of the Antonov Serial Production Plant in Ukraine.

Antonov An-225 Mriya Media

The An-225 carrying Buran (1.01) in 1989
Antonov An-225 with Buran at Le Bourget, 1989, Manteufel
The An-225 at Farnborough in 1990
Three of six Ivchenko Progress D-18T turbofan engines on the An-225
The An-225's main landing gear
The nose gear of the An-225
The Antonov Airlines An-225 landing at Hostomel Airport, 2014
An-225 at Tianjin Binhai International Airport
Wreckage of the An-225 Mriya from the front, after its destruction during the Battle of Antonov Airport
The Antonov An-225 Mriya taking off at Hostomel Airport