{"id":17755,"date":"2020-03-30T22:14:39","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T14:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/stratolaunch-resurrects-its-hypersonic-rocket-vehicle-under-a-new-name-talon-a\/"},"modified":"2020-03-30T22:14:39","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T14:14:39","slug":"stratolaunch-resurrects-its-hypersonic-rocket-vehicle-under-a-new-name-talon-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/stratolaunch-resurrects-its-hypersonic-rocket-vehicle-under-a-new-name-talon-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Stratolaunch resurrects its hypersonic rocket vehicle under a new name: Talon-A"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Talon-A\"
An artist\u2019s conception shows Stratolaunch\u2019s Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle. (Stratolaunch Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that it\u2019s under new management, Stratolaunch is retooling a concept for a rocket-powered hypersonic vehicle that it first unveiled 18 months ago.<\/p>\n

Back then, it was called the Hyper-A testbed vehicle, and it represented one of the engineering frontiers for Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen\u2019s space venture.<\/p>\n

A month later, Allen passed away at the age of 65 after battling a recurrence of non-Hodgkin\u2019s disease. Stratolaunch went through a year\u2019s worth of retrenching, leading to a change of ownership last October.<\/p>\n

The new ownership group, led by billionaire investor Steve Feinberg, recently confirmed that it was continuing Stratolaunch\u2019s work on hypersonic vehicles \u2014 and today it unveiled a rebranded version of the Hyper-A, now known as the Talon-A.<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch also said it eventually intends to develop a larger hypersonic vehicle once known as Hyper-Z, and now called Talon-Z, plus a space plane nicknamed Black Ice that could carry payloads and perhaps even people to orbit.<\/p>\n

\"StratolaunchGet the specs<\/strong>: Take a look at the fact sheet for the hypersonic Talon-A and its carrier airplane<\/h4>\n

The reusable Talon-A measures 28 feet long, with a wingspan of 11.3 feet and a launch weight of roughly 6,000 pounds. Stratolaunch says the Talon-A should be capable of flying at speeds ranging from Mach 5 to Mach 7, which matches the specs for Hyper-A.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Talon-A will be launched from the Stratolaunch Carrier Aircraft, the world\u2019s largest aircraft by wingspan, conduct long-duration flight at high Mach and glide back for an autonomous, horizontal landing on a conventional runway,\u201d Stratolaunch spokesman Art Pettigrue said in an email. \u201cThe vehicle will also be capable of autonomous takeoff, under its own power, via a conventional runway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stratolaunch says it has enough funding to support Talon-A\u2019s development at least through an upcoming hypersonic flight test. The company\u2019s timeline calls for the reusable Talon-A test vehicle as well as its twin-fuselage, 385-foot-wide carrier plane to go into operation in 2022.<\/p>\n

The plane is designed with enough lift capacity to carry up to three Talon-A\u2019s at a time. Multi-mission, single-aircraft sorties are due to start in 2023.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s lots to be done between now and then. So far, the carrier airplane (nicknamed Roc, after the giant bird of Arabic and Persian mythology) has had only one test flight, a 2.5-hour-long outing last April at California\u2019s Mojave Air and Space Port. That\u2019s where Seattle-based Stratolaunch has its factory and its mammoth hangar. Over the next two years, Stratolaunch will have to get the airplane ready for regular flights, and transform the Talon-A from a drawing-board concept into flightworthy hardware.<\/p>\n

Back in 2018, Hyper-A was meant to blaze a trail for rolling out the larger Hyper-Z vehicle, capable of traveling faster than Mach 10, within as little as five years. Pettigrue confirmed that Talon-Z is still part of the plan, but said \u201cwe don\u2019t have a specific timeframe to share.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same goes for Black Ice, the space shuttle-like craft that first came to light a little more than two years ago. At that time, Stratolaunch called Black Ice \u201can aspirational concept.\u201d Today, it said Black Ice would be \u201ca fully reusable space plane that enables advanced on-orbit capabilities and cargo return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInitial designs optimized for cargo launch, with a follow-on variant capable of transporting crew,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n