Stratolaunch to join Navy-led testing mission

MOJAVE — Stratolaunch, the Mojave-based company developing a hypersonic flight test bed, announced, this week, an agreement to support a Navy-led effort for flight testing hypersonic technology development.

The company is partnering with Dynetics on the Multiservice Advanced Capability Test Bed (MACHTB) project awarded by Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division.

The Dynetics-led team will demonstrate ways to affordably prototype a test bed that leverages commercial launch vehicles — such as Stratolaunch’s Talon-A — for flight test of hypersonic payloads to test new technologies.

“We’re excited for the opportunity for Talon-A flights to be integrated into the MACH-TB program as part of the Dynetics team,” Stratolaunch CEO Zachary Krevor said. “We look forward to providing flight test opportunities needed to advance hypersonics systems development for the services.

This partnership will accelerate the frequency of testing that is imperative to reducing the risk of hypersonic system technology development.”

Also in November, Stratolaunch contracted with the Air Force Research Laboratory for the flight test of its first Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle, dubbed TA-1.

Launched to speeds of Mach 5 or greater from the twin fuselage carrier aircraft, the Talon-A will carry various experimental payloads as a platform for hypersonic flight test.

These contracts follow the October test flight of the company’s massive carrier aircraft, dubbed “Roc,” in which it successfully completed the first captive carry flight with the Talon-A separation test vehicle.

The TA-0 test vehicle, carried in a cradle slung on the wing between the aircraft’s twin fuselages, is a stand-in for the future Talon-A hypersonic test platform. It will be used to test the release system and characterize the separation dynamics, according to the company.

Testing with the TA-0 vehicle will continue with a series of captive carry flights in the coming months, leading to a separation test of the unpowered TA-0 vehicle over the Pacific Ocean, later this year.

Once envisioned as an airlaunch platform for sending small satellites and payloads into orbit, Stratolaunch has since directed its energy to developing a hypersonic testbed, using the behemoth aircraft as an air launch platform. The company is developing the Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle to fly from Roc.

Hypersonic refers to speeds in excess of Mach 5 and is something frontier researchers have been striving to effectively employ for decades. The field has recently gained traction, with projects in development on a number of fronts.

The rocket-powered, autonomous and reusable Talon-A test bed vehicles may carry customizable payloads, enabling scientific research, technology development and component demonstration at hypersonic speeds.

Stratolaunch officials have likened the use of their Talon hypersonic test platform to the X-15 program of the 1960s at Edwards Air Force Base, which also employed a reusable test vehicle to explore hypersonic speeds, as well a high-altitude flight.

The company expects to deliver services for government and civilian commercial customers, in 2023.