It's first flight was back on the 21st December, 1988, under the Soviet Union. Originally used to carry the Buran space shuttle and its rocket boosters, it is still in use today by Antonov Airlines as a special cargo plane.
One of these beasts requires six Ivchenko Progress D-18T engines, giving the plane a combined maximum thrust of 140,580 kilogram-force; 309,930 pounds-force (1380 kilo-Newton).
Only one was ever made. Another airframe was made but never saw completion due to lack of funding or interest and was then stored in its unfinished state since 1991. However, by the year 2000 Antonov Airlines realised there was demand for another An-225 and so they continued to finish the second one. Although it still hasn't seen completion due to financial and other reasons, they still plan on finishing it to offer a cargo capacity of 250 tonnes at a cost of $300 million.
