Stratolaunch praises hypersonic vehicle test
March 10, 2024
Private company Stratolaunch said Saturday night that it had successfully tested its Talon-A hypersonic vehicle, publishing a short video of its launch and the beginning of its flight.
“Today was a big day for the Stratolaunch team. I am extremely proud of their perseverance to get to this point,” company president Zachary Krevor said in the statement.
The company said the main objectives of Saturday’s flight were to “perform the safe air launch of the TA-1 vehicle, engine ignition, acceleration, sustained climb to altitude and a controlled water landing.”
A video was released showing the first seconds of the test off the coast of California. The massive six-engine, twin-fuselage aircraft carrier Roc released the Talon from the bracket in the middle of its wing, it fell a short distance before the engine fired and flew forward.
Hypersonic weapons and defenses in development
The flight concluded with a controlled water landing. Although the TA-1 is not reusable, the company said new models designed for reuse after runway landings are in development.
“While I cannot share the specific altitude and speed the TA-1 achieved,” said Krevin, “we achieved high supersonic speeds, approaching Mach 5, and a large amount of data with incredible value to our customers.”
Defense contractors in several countries hope to capitalize on the shift both to hypersonic weapons and the development of new systems to detect and defend against them.
Stratolaunch said it expects development of the TA-1 vehicle to be completed this year and noted that work has begun on two newer models.
Hypersonic weapons tend to be defined as those that travel in Earth’s upper atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5, equivalent to about 1.7 kilometers or just over 1 mile per second).
msh/wd (AP, Reuters)
Source: DW
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