
California-based Stratolaunch is modifying its carrier aircraft to support tests of its innovative hypersonic test vehicle, the Talon-A. The company hopes to have the changes completed by the fourth quarter of this year and aims to expand its capabilities to a wider range of high-speed test missions in the missile defense field.
The company has signed a contract worth approximately $25 million with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to make the Spirit of Mojave, a carrier aircraft the size of a 747 jet, capable of hypersonic test missions from any airport around the world. Stratolaunch plans to conduct Talon-A test flights once a year and increase the frequency later, once those flights become regular.
Modifications and Test Plans
Demand for hypersonic test vehicles is increasing, and the company is looking to increase the frequency of test flights to meet that demand, Stratolaunch CEO Zachary Krevor told Defense News. The company’s goal was to conduct one hypersonic test flight per week by 2022 to meet the Pentagon’s increasing demands.
Talon-A could provide the Pentagon with a cost-effective, reusable platform for testing components, subsystems and other technologies at high speed. The vehicle plays a key role in testing and calibrating the performance of sensors the MDA uses to track advanced missile threats.
Talon-A's Test Flights and Test Platforms
Stratolaunch has two carrier aircraft to help it reach launch altitude for the Talon-A: the Spirit of Mojave, a Boeing 747-400, and the massive Roc. The Roc has a 385-foot wingspan, a twin-fuselage structure, and is the only carrier aircraft capable of conducting Talon-A tests. The company plans to use both aircraft for tests, but the Roc is currently the only aircraft carrying the Talon-A’s release system.
The MDA contract will provide Stratolaunch to add a release mechanism to Spirit of Mojave and support initial flight testing. It will also upgrade the aircraft’s electrical interfaces and install configured displays for the Talon-A.
New Test Platforms and Flexibility
Two carrier aircraft for Talon-A testing will give Stratolaunch the flexibility to meet the testing needs of a variety of DOD customers, not just on the West Coast, but globally. Contributing to MDA’s hypersonic and ballistic tracking sensor programs has the potential to increase the accuracy of tests across multiple launches.
Stratolaunch also received a contract to support the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed, a program managed by the Pentagon’s Test Research Management Center and Naval Surface Warfare Center, which will conduct five MACH-TB flight tests.
Talon-A’s Test Flights and Future
The Talon-A is scheduled to make its first test flight in March 2024, aiming to reach near-hypersonic speeds. A second test flight was planned last year, aiming to exceed Mach 5, but Krevor did not say whether that test would take place.
Stratolaunch’s plans to modify its carrier aircraft and increase test flights are crucial to the company’s ability to meet growing demand for hypersonic test vehicles and the Pentagon’s defense needs.