Washington. January 17th. INTERFAX - An American giant two-body aircraft designed for aerial launches of reusable hypersonic gliders made its third successful test flight on Sunday, the developer company Stratolaunch Systems said.
The world's largest wingspan aircraft called Roc took off from an airfield in the Mojave Desert in California. For more than four hours, he performed various flight maneuvers at an altitude of approximately 6,700 meters, after which he successfully landed, the report says.
The wingspan of the twin-body six-engine Stratolaunch aircraft reaches 117 meters, its length is 73 meters. The weight of the aircraft reaches 230 tons, and the maximum take-off weight is about 590 tons. The maximum flight range of an aircraft with a full load is 3.7 thousand km.
The aircraft is being tested as an aerial platform for launching reusable hypersonic gliders called Talon-A, created by Stratolaunch Systems, in order to deliver cargo into orbit. The Talon-A is 8.5 meters long, 3.4 meters wide, and weighs 2.72 tons. It is planned that after being dropped from the carrier aircraft, the glider will be able to reach a speed of Mach seven. After completing the mission, Talon-A must land on a regular runway.
According to the company, the first flight of the aircraft with a hypersonic glider is planned to be carried out this year.
The payload, the total weight of which can reach seven tons, is suspended between two fuselages of the Stratolaunch aircraft. It is capable of flying at an altitude of up to 13.7 thousand meters, from which it can drop rockets, which then, with the help of its own engines, will enter orbit.
According to the developers, this method significantly reduces the cost of the process of space launches, as it allows you to save on rocket fuel.
