Roc, the world’s largest plane developed by Stratolaunch, successfully flew a prototype of the Talon-A separation test vehicle, TA-0 — its air-launched hypersonic vehicle.

The flight lasted for five hours and six minutes over the Mojave desert, reaching an altitude of 23,000 feet. The main mission of the flight was to measure the aerodynamic loads on the Talon-A vehicle. Capturing these loads in flight will validate aerodynamic predictions to ensure the release mechanism will function as designed.

The test clearly indicated that Roc was capable of serving as a launch pad for hypersonic vehicles. A part of the test involved a 28-foot-long Talon prototype vehicle attached to a pylon at the centre of the aircraft’s 385-foot-wide wings.

To the unaware, Talon-A vehicles are reusable hypersonic test aircraft that carry customisable payloads, travelling at speeds of up to Mach 5. The company has already commenced manufacturing the first fully-reusable hypersonic test vehicle TA-2 as well as TA-3.

Dr Zachary Krevor, Stratolaunch’s chief executive officer and president, said in a statement, “We have conducted a variety of ground tests in anticipation of this first captive carry flight, and with each successful test milestone achieved we have built confidence that the hardware will perform exactly as it was designed. It’s exhilarating to see the team’s hard work come to life and see the vehicles fly as an integrated system.”

Krevor added, “I was ecstatic seeing those two vehicles combined as they lifted off the runway and into the sky. Seeing our flight products operating together represents a significant step towards regular and reusable hypersonic flight.”

The success of this test has fulfilled Stratolaunch’s agreement with the Pentagon for hypersonic test flight launches. It had struck a deal with the company sometime last year to test new hypersonic flight services. The aircraft which was originally designed to launch payloads into space has redirected its focus to hypersonic aircraft now.

The company plans on conducting a series of captive carry flights in the coming months, including a separation test of the TA-0 vehicle over the Pacific Ocean in late 2022. If all goes well, the company will test its first hypersonic vehicle Talon-A TA-1 in 2023.

Source: Civil Aviation Authority – Qatar