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Stratolaunch released a new video that documes the completion of his second hypersonic flight and the complete recovery of his Talon-A2 autonomous vehicle, showing the capabilities of this elegant reusable hypersonic plane.
This successful monitoring mission, recently carried out on March 24 of this year, continues following the first initial hyperonic flight and the recovery of the Talon-A2 vehicle track on December 20, 2024. “ROC”.
When placed and displayed at the altitude of more than 20,000 feet, the dart -shaped hypersonic marvel is dropped from the ROC central wing pylon before its Hadley Major Hadley rocket engine reaches Mach 5 and beyond.
“With the data collected from this second flight, we can apply lessons learned to improve the strength and performance of Talon-A vehicles,” said Dr. Zachary Krevor, president and CEO or Stratolaunch in a statement. “While the team needs to complete its flight data review, the first flight review confirmed the robustness of TALON-A design while demonstrating the ability to meet the full range of performance capabilities desired by our customs.”
After a controlled altitude climb, the Talon-A2 returned to the earth for a soft and silky touchdown and the recovery of payload in the Vandenberg space base in California, as in this video that links Stratolaunch’s vision and the X-15 rocket plane program of the 1950s and 1960s.
December and March flights packed useful charges and experiments from the Department of Defense. These exciting missions mark the first return of the United States to reusable hyperonic flight tests since the X-15 manned program ended in 1968.
Stratolaunch is a revolutionary Air-Lunch company founded in 2011 by the co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen. Cerberus Capital Management formally bought Stratolaunch in 2018, transferring its headquarters of Seattle, Washington to Mohave Air and Space Port in California, with emphasis on the evolution and operation of world -class hypersonic aerospace crafts.
A second launch platform is currently being developed using a Boeing 747-400 once owned by the now missing Virgin Orbit and now renowned “Spirit of Mojave”. This updated aircraft will provide a more convenient and compact carrier than the powerful “ROC” for future flights and tests of the next generation of Stratolaunch vehicles called Talon-A3, which should be ready to fly at some point at the end of 2025.
Stratoluanch previously tested the prototype of a single use Talon-A1 on March 9, 2024, which was not equipped with landing train and executed a perfect oceanic splash.
