INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
"Demonstrating the reuse of fully recoverable hypersonic test vehicles is an important milestone for MACH-TB," said George Rumford, director
of the Test Resource Management Center, in a statement
"Lessons learned from this test campaign will help us reduce vehicle turnaround time from months down to weeks."Krevor said Talon-A carried
multiple experiments on each mission but did not offer any details about the nature of the payloads, citing proprietary reasons and customer
agreements."We cannot disclose the nature of those payloads, other than to say typical materials, instrumentation, sensors, etc.," he said
"The customers were thrilled with their ability to recover the payloads shortly after landing."Stratolaunch completed the first powered
flight of a Talon-A vehicle last year, when the rocket plane launched over the Pacific Ocean and fired its liquid-fueled Hadley
The Talon-A1 vehicle accelerated to just shy of hypersonic speed, then fell into the sea as planned and was not recovered.That set the stage
for Talon-A2's first flight in December.Military officials previously stated they set up the MACH-TB program to enable more frequent flight
testing of hypersonic weapon technologies, including communication, navigation, guidance, sensors, and seekers
Stratolaunch aims for monthly flights of the Talon-A rocket plane by the end of the year and eventually wants to ramp up to weekly
flights."These flights are setting the stage now to increase the cadence of hypersonic flight testing in this country," Krevor said
"The ability to have a fully reusable hypersonic flight architecture enables a very high cadence of flight along with a lot of
The DoD can call Stratolaunch if there's a priority program, and we can have a hypersonic flight next week, assuming the readiness of all
the other technologies and payloads."Pentagon officials in 2022 set a goal of growing US capacity for hypersonic testing from 12 to 50
Krevor believes Stratolaunch will play a key part in making that happen.So, why is hypersonic flight testing important?The Pentagon seeks to
close what it views as a technological gap with China, which US officials acknowledge has become the world's leader in hypersonic missile
Hypersonic weapons are more difficult than conventional missiles for aerial defense systems to detect, track, and destroy
Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons ride at the top of the atmosphere, enhancing their maneuverability and ability to evade
interceptors.Hypersonic flight is an unforgiving environment
He declined to disclose the duration, top speed, and maximum altitude of the December and March test flights but said the rocket plane
performed a series of "high-G" maneuvers on the journey from its drop location to Vandenberg.
