China and Ukraine are going to build the largest plane in the world

Ukraine's Antonov Company and the Aerospace Industry Corporation of China have agreed to a deal this week to recommence the production of the AN-225 Mriya.

Only one AN-225 was ever completed and entered service in 1988. A second Mriya airframe was partially completed before the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Sino-Ukrainian agreement, this week, calls for the completion of the second AN-225 by Antonov and its delivery to AICC.

In addition, the agreement also calls for the commencement of series production of the AN-225 in China under license from Antonov.

A relic of the Soviet space program, the AN-225 was designed as a platform to carry the Buran space shuttle. Following the cancellation of the Soviet space program, both the completed and uncompleted AN-225s sat idle for a decade. In the early 2000s, the completed Mriya was refurbished and returned to service as a commercial heavy lifter.

The AN-225 holds 240 world records including the record for the heaviest cargo ever carried by a plane at 253 tons. According to Antonov, the AN-225 can carry a 200 ton load nearly 2,500 miles.

The gargantuan heavy lifter is powered by six Ivchenko Progress turbo-fan engines each producing more than 51,000 pounds of thrust.