AmericaStratolaunch’s plane continues to successfully conduct a fifth test flight before carrying the supersonic vehicle at the end of next year.
Croc plane lands at Mojave airport after test flight. Video: Stratolaunch
Roc, a vehicle manufactured by the company Stratolaunch, is the largest aircraft in the world with a wingspan of 117 meters. The plane, weighing about 227,000 kg, is designed to carry hypersonic vehicles into the air. On May 4, Roc completed its fifth flight, following a test flight in February. These test flights help ensure Roc is ready for the task.
According to Stratolaunch, Roc successfully took off and landed at Mojave Air and Space Airport in California with a Cessna 550 Citation Bravo jet following behind. The Roc flies with a new wing structure that can accommodate cargo, helping to achieve the ultimate goal of carrying a supersonic vehicle. Currently, the Stratolaunch team is busy analyzing data collected from the flight.
During the test flight, Stratolaunch’s engineers focused on extending the range and testing the recently installed cargo structure to deliver and release the hypersonic vehicle. This structure has an area of 4.5 m2.
Stratolaunch was founded in 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to develop a new method of launching satellites. Allen died in 2018, a year before Roc made its first flight in 2019. Today, Stratolaunch is aiming to carry a supersonic vehicle traveling at Mach 5 (6,174 km/h).
In 2020, the company began building the Talon-A, a prototype hypersonic vehicle designed to launch from the Roc. Talon-A is 8.5 m long, weighs 2,700 kg, can reach a speed of Mach 6 (7,408 km/h). Initially, Stratolaunch planned to perform the first drop test with Roc and Talon-A in early 2022. However, now the company is preparing to have the duo fully operational in the second half of 2023. .
An Khang (According to Space)
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