Stratolaunch Completes Captive-Carry Flight with TA-1 Test Vehicle Some news from Mojave, California regarding the Stratolaunch enterprise. Stratolaunch, LLC announces the completion of a captive carry flight with the first powered Talon-A hypersonic vehicle, TA-1. The flight was the twelfth for the company’s launch platform Roc and the first in which the aircraft carried a Talon vehicle with live propellant as part of a buildup approach for Talon-A’s first powered flight. The flight lasted a total of three hours and 22 minutes and represented a significant step forward in the company’s near-term goal of completing a powered flight with the Talon-A vehicle, TA-1. A primary objective was to evaluate Talon-A’s propulsion system and the Talon environments while carrying live propellant. A second objective was to verify Roc and TA-1’s telemetry systems, which provides the situational awareness to ensure all systems are ready for powered flight during the release sequence.
"Talon-A’s propulsion system supports a liquid-propellant rocket engine that provides the thrust needed for Talon-A to reach hypersonic speeds. While we have conducted several successful ground tests fueling and igniting the system, we needed to evaluate how the system performs in the flight environment prior to release," said Dr. Zachary Krevor, Chief Executive Officer for Stratolaunch. "Initial results from today’s flight show that the system has performed as predicted, and we will determine our next steps pending the full data review of the test."
Currently, Stratolaunch is building TA-2 and TA-3 vehicles while they are doing testing on the TA-1 vehicle. TA-2 and TA-3 will be the first fully-reusable vehicles in the Talon A lineup. As for TA-1, the latest flight was the twelfth for the company’s launch platform Roc and the first in which the aircraft carried a Talon vehicle with live propellant as part of a buildup approach for Talon-A’s first powered flight. For more information: Stratolaunch HQ 555 Riccomini St, Mojave, CA 93501 www.stratolaunch.com ***
