"Currently the world's largest airplane, the An-225 Mriya (dream) is an enlarged version of the An-124. The original purpose of the An-225 was to ferry large components used in the Soviet space program. These duties were formerly performed by a modified M-4 Molot bomber, but this aircraft did not have the payload capabilities required by the rocketry developments of the 1980s. Antonov was called upon to develop a new aircraft capable of carrying the Buran space shuttle, components of the Energiya rocket, or other large cargos required by the construction and mining industries."
how appropriate. 
