Roc, the world’s largest flying aircraft, has successfully completed a test flight carrying a hypersonic vehicle. Stratolaunch‘s aircraft took off on 28 October from Mojave Air and Space Port.
Roc’s eight test flight lasted for 5 hours and 6 minutes over the Mojave Desert and reached an altitude of 23,000 feet (7000 meters). This was its first captive carry flight with the company’s Talon-A separation test vehicle, TA-0, integrated with Roc’s centre wing pylon, which is meant to be an air-launching system for hypersonic vehicles. The Talon-A vehicles are reusable hypersonic test aircraft that can carry customizable payloads at speeds of up to Mach 5.
It’s exhilarating to see the team’s hard work come to life and see the vehicles fly as an integrated system.
Dr Zachary Krevor, Stratolaunch Chief Executive Officer and President
The flight focused on measuring the aerodynamic loads on the Talon-A vehicle while attached to Roc. The loads captured in flight will validate aerodynamic predictions to ensure the release mechanism will function as designed.
“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”, said Dr Zachary Krevor, Stratolaunch Chief Executive Officer and President.
The company will complete a series of captive carry flights in the coming months, culminating in a separation test of the TA-0 vehicle out over the Pacific Ocean in late 2022. Parallel to flight test activity, Stratolaunch is progressing on system tests of its first hypersonic flight test vehicle, TA-1, and on the fabrication of the first and second fully reusable hypersonic vehicles, TA-2 and TA-3.
The company anticipates delivering hypersonic flight services to government and commercial customers in 2023. “Testing and production are accelerating as we push forward to meet our commitment of providing hypersonic flight test service to our customers next year. Our team will continue accomplishing more complex test milestones as we progress to our first hypersonic flight”, Dr Krevor said.
