WASHINGTON — Stratolaunch successfully conducted the first powered flight of its Talon vehicle on March 9. The uncrewed test reached speeds described as “high supersonic.”
The Talon-A vehicle, designated TA-1, took off while attached to the company’s Roc aircraft from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 10:17 a.m. Eastern. Data from flight tracking indicated that the plane flew west to a location in the Pacific off the central California coast, where TA-1 was released at an unspecified time. Roc returned to Mojave more than four hours after takeoff.
Stratolaunch executives mentioned in a call with reporters that they were unable to reveal the top speed or altitude of the TA-1 on its flight due to “proprietary agreements” with unspecified customers. However, they expressed satisfaction with the flight.
“As part of our successful achievement of the test objectives, we did reach that high supersonic regime approaching hypersonic flight,” said Zachary Krevor, president and chief executive of Stratolaunch. Hypersonic flight typically means speeds higher than Mach 5.
Aaron Cassebeer, senior vice president of engineering and operations, stated that the TA-1 accomplished its primary test goals, which included release from Roc, engine ignition, sustained acceleration, climbing through high supersonic speeds while maintaining control, deceleration, and gliding to an ocean splashdown. TA-1, being an expendable vehicle, was not recovered.
“Overall, we’re extremely pleased with how TA-1 performed today,” he said. “At present, we are well positioned to continue our planned test series.”
The company’s next vehicle, TA-2, is its first reusable hypersonic vehicle. It is scheduled to begin flight tests in the second half of the year, with another reusable vehicle, TA-3, under construction. Stratolaunch is also modifying a Boeing 747 it acquired last year in Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy auction to serve as a second air-launch platform.
Stratolaunch was established over ten years ago by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen with the initial objective of providing air-launch services using a giant twin-fuselage, six-engine aircraft. The company considered a variant of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and a vehicle concept called Thunderbolt by Orbital ATK (now part of Northrop Grumman) at various times. It then started work on its own launch vehicle and engine.
The company changed direction after the 2018 death of Allen. Plans for its own launch vehicle were abandoned, and the company was later sold to a private equity firm, Cerebus. In 2020, the company announced it would instead focus on developing hypersonic vehicles that would be air-launched by Roc.
The TA-1 flight was a significant achievement for Ursa Major Technologies, the company that developed the Hadley engine powering the vehicle. The engine, which uses liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants, is designed to produce 5,000 pounds-force of thrust. Ursa Major had not disclosed any flight tests of that engine before the TA-1 flight.
Cassebeer mentioned that the Hadley engine fired for about 200 seconds during the flight. “The Hadley engine performed very well today. It met all of our expectations,” he said.
