World's Largest Plane Takes Its First Flight With a Hypersonic Vehicle

The largest plane in the world has finally touched the skies after completing a successful flight on Friday, Oct. 28. Stratolaunch's Roc conducted its first flight with the Talon-A separation test vehicle's air-launched hypersonic vehicle, TA-0.

As reported first by Interesting Engineering, the test marks Roc's eighth flight, which lasted for five hours and six minutes over the Mojave Desert, rising to a height of 23,000 feet (7,000 meters).

Aerodynamic Loads

The flight's main objective, according to a news release, was to gauge the Talon-A vehicle's aerodynamic loads. Aerodynamic forecasts will be verified by the loads recorded during flight to guarantee that the release mechanism will work as designed.

The flight gave indication about Roc's capabilities and one of those is that it can function as a launching pad for hypersonic vehicles.

The test included a 28-foot (8.5 meters) long Talon prototype vehicle that was mounted to a pylon in the middle of the aircraft's 385-foot (117 meters) wide wings.

Talon-A vehicles are reusable hypersonic test aircraft that have a top speed of Mach 5 and can transport a variety of payloads. The first fully reusable hypersonic test vehicles, the TA-2 and TA-3, are now being made by Stratolaunch.

"We have conducted a variety of ground tests in anticipation of this first captive carry flight, and with each successful test, milestone achieved we have built confidence that the hardware will perform exactly as it was designed. It's exhilarating to see the team's hard work come to life and see the vehicles fly as an integrated system," Dr. Zachary Krevor, Stratolaunch Chief Executive Officer and President said in a press release statement.

Stratolaunch's Agreement with Pentagon

The completion of the test meets Stratolaunch's commitment to the Pentagon for hypersonic test flight launches. The Pentagon and Stratolaunch reached an agreement last year to test new hypersonic flying services, as per Interesting Engineering.

A separation test of the TA-0 vehicle out over the Pacific Ocean will take place in late 2022 as a result of the company's upcoming captive carry missions. If the missions are successful, Stratolaunch will test the Talon-A TA-1, the company's first hypersonic vehicle, in 2023.

Testing and production are intensifying as the company attempts to keep its commitment to its clients to offer hypersonic flight test services next year. The crew will continue to hit harder test milestones as they come closer to their first hypersonic flight, according to Dr. Krevor.

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Written by Jace Dela Cruz