Aerospace Company Stratolaunch recently signed a contract to assist the US Air Force Research Laboratory with its hypersonic flight research program. As the US desperately seeks to get its hands on this Hypersonic technology, Stratolaunch could soon be on its way to test a hypersonic vehicle.
Stratolaunch is reportedly preparing to test a hypersonic vehicle known as ‘Talon-A’, which is set to be launched from the massive Roc carrier aircraft, which itself recently completed its fifth flight.
The aircraft, which weighs 500,000 pounds, is meant to transport hypersonic vehicles into the air.
The private spaceflight firm has developed one of the world’s largest aircraft intending to launch rockets from the skies in the future. From a height of 30,000 feet, the Stratolaunch carrier aircraft will launch rockets into orbit.
The Hypersonic Talon-A test vehicle, known as TA-0, has been structurally completed. The first-ever Talon-A vehicle, first featured in a recent issue of Aviation Week, will be used to test the Roc’s release system, which in turn be used to test hypersonic aircraft for the US Air Force.
“After completing TA-0 separation testing, the company will transition to flying its first hypersonic test vehicle, TA-1,” Stratolaunch stated. The team has also started fabrication of a third vehicle, TA-2, the first fully reusable hypersonic test vehicle.
Talon-A (TA-0) is a test vehicle that will not be powered while in flight. Instead, it will be used to test and evaluate the aerodynamics of future launch vehicles that will be self-driving and employ rocket power to achieve speeds greater than Mach 5.
Over the next few months, Stratolaunch has revealed that it will continue to undertake integration testing before conducting a captive carry and vehicle flight test later this year.
If everything goes according to plan, it will help usher in a new era of hypersonic spaceflight, allowing military and commercial vehicles to travel at previously unimaginable speeds.
The United States has been investing heavily into hypersonic technology- including aircraft as well hypersonic weapons, both of which are in various stages of design, development, and testing. Several aerospace giants are racing against one another to present a viable hypersonic aircraft.
