The American company Stratolaunch has defended the Talon-A hypersonic glider project and completed the initial assembly of its prototype glider. Next year, she plans to test it with a hypersonic flight.
Stratolaunch last year presented updated designs of three aircraft that it is going to launch from the aircraft with the largest wing in the world, the Stratolaunch Model 351 . Only one of them is currently in active development — the Talon-A hypersonic glider.
Talon-A will be 8.5 meters long and 3.4 meters wide. Its take-off weight will be 2.72 tons. The glider will rise into the air from the carrier aircraft and, with the help of its own liquid rocket engine, reach a speed six times higher than sound. The entire hypersonic flight segment should last more than a minute. Talon-A will land on an airplane, on a regular runway.
It is assumed that in the free compartments the glider will carry tools and equipment for research by third-party customers. According to the company's plan, Talon-A will begin flying in 2022, and in 2023 its permanent operation will begin.
Stratolaunch on September 27 announced the protection of the Talon-A hypersonic glider project. It has also completed the initial assembly of the airframe of its prototype Talon-A0, the tests of which will start early next year. Including the Talon-A0, the company is going to work out separation from the carrier aircraft.
The second prototype — Talon-A1 - is also currently at the assembly stage. It will be capable of hypersonic flights. It is assumed that he will also make his first hypersonic flight next year.
The Stratolaunch carrier aircraft will continue to undergo flight tests in the coming months. After these tests, a glider pylon will be installed on it.
Stratolaunch is also developing the Black Ice spaceplane. This is probably a revived project of an unmanned reusable spaceplane, which we wrote about earlier.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva