Stratolaunch Aircraft Completes Second Test Flight
A second test flight has been successfully completed by the Stratolaunch aircraft over the Mojave desert. The aircraft, which is the world's largest aircraft by wingspan at 385 feet, on Thursday flew for 3 hours, 14 minutes and reached an altitude of 14,000 feet.
"Stratolaunch is advancing our nation's ability to be a worldwide leader in the hypersonic market. Our flight today gets us another step closer to our promise of delivering the world's premier hypersonic flight test service."
Dr. Daniel R. Millman, Chief Technology Officer of Stratolaunch.
As part of this latest flight, pilots further prepared the carrier aircraft to support launches of its upcoming hypersonic testbed vehicle, Talon-A. Initial results from today's test points include:
Confirmation of the Stratolaunch aircraft's performance and handling characteristics
Continued demonstration of the aircraft's capability, including its payload capacity
Validation of the enhancements added to the Carrier Aircraft, including pressurization, gear doors, and robustness to the safety systems
"Stratolaunch is advancing our nation's ability to be a worldwide leader in the hypersonic market," said Dr. Daniel R. Millman, Chief Technology Officer of Stratolaunch. "Our flight today gets us another step closer to our promise of delivering the world's premier hypersonic flight test service."
Talon-A is a fully reusable, autonomous, liquid rocket-powered Mach 6-class hypersonic vehicle with a length of 28 feet, wingspan of 14 feet, and a launch weight of approximately 6,500 pounds. The vehicle will provide over 60 seconds of hypersonic flight test conditions and glide back for an autonomous landing on a conventional runway.
The company's hypersonic program, announced last year, has seen significant progress in high-speed vehicle manufacturing, as well as the development of a variant of the Hadley liquid rocket engine, which is being designed by Ursa Major Technologies specifically for the Talon-A testbed vehicle.
Stratolaunch is currently assembling both a Talon-A Separation Test Article, which will be the first Talon-A vehicle carried and released by the Stratolaunch aircraft and as well as the first rocket-powered Talon-A vehicle. On display for attendees was a Talon-A upper skin, fabricated from Out-of-Autoclave Bismaleimide (BMI) carbon composite materials and slated to be a component of the second hypersonic vehicle. Also highlighted was a Hadley engine, an oxidizer rich staged combustion engine in the 5,000-lbf thrust class, which is ready to be installed and tested in Stratolaunch's under-construction propulsion test facility. The carrier aircraft has also been designed to launch small payloads into LEO.
"We're focused on safely and securely releasing operational hypersonic vehicles from our carrier aircraft," said Dr. Zachary Krevor, chief operating officer of Stratolaunch. "The test flight today provided valuable insights and data to help us continue this journey."
(Images provided with Stratolaunch news release. Photo credit Matt Hartman)