Stratolaunch Readies to Validate Release Systems and Separation Dynamics 

Stratolaunch, the Seattle-based aerospace company, has debuted a prototype of its Talon-A separation test aircraft. Stratolaunch states in a press release that it will use the prototype to test and validate its carrier aircraft release system and study separation dynamics. 

Subject tests will be conducted in advance of powered tests to be carried out by a successor prototype dubbed TA-1, which will attempt actual hypersonic flight later this year. The term hypersonic describes vehicles or missiles capable of traveling in excess of Mach 5–which is to say, five-times the speed of sound.

TA-1 will launch from a gigantic, carrier aircraft called ROC, an appellation shared with an enormous, legendary bird of prey in the mythology of the Middle East. Designed by famed aerodynamicist, Burt Rutan, ROC is the largest plane ever built, and features a dual fuselage, a wingspan of 385 feet (117 meters), and a MGTOW north of 1.2-million-pounds. The aircraft is powered by six, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines, and has an operational range of 1,200-nautical miles. 

Though not itself a powered unit, the newly showcased prototype—designated TA-0—is an important step in Stratolaunch’s hypersonic flight program. 

Founded in 2011 by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, Stratolaunch’s original goal was to launch space-planes after the fashion currently utilized by Virgin Galactic in its SpaceShipTwo program. The company subsequently shifted its focus to hypersonic vehicles—though the development of space-planes remains a long-term goal. Stratolaunch is contracted by the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to provide a testing platform by which to develop mitigations against hypersonic threats—namely, hypersonic missile threats from China and Russia.

FMI: www.stratolaunch.com