“Demonstrating the re-use of fully possible hypersonic test vehicles is an important milestone for Mach-TB,” said George Rumford, director of the test resource management center in a statement. “Applications drawn from this test campaign will help us shorten the time of returning vehicles from months to weeks.”
Krevor said that Talon has conducted many experiments on each mission, but did not provide any details about the nature of the load, citing reserved reasons and customer agreements.
“We cannot reveal the nature of these loads, except for speaking typical materials, instruments, sensors, etc.” – he said. “Customers were delighted with their ability to recover charges shortly after landing.”
Last year, Stratolaunch finished the first flight of the Talon vehicle, when the rocket aircraft fired over the Pacific Ocean and launched a Hadley engine with a liquid Major-Przezm drive-driven about 200 seconds. The Talon-A1 vehicle accelerated only the hypersonic speed, and then fell into the sea as planned and was not recovered.
This prepared the scene of the first Talon-A2 flight in December.
Military officials have previously stated that they had created a Mach-TB program to enable more constant testing of hypersonic technology flights, including communication, navigation, tips, sensors and seekers. Stratolaunch strives for monthly flights of the Talon-A rocket aircraft until the end of the year and ultimately wants to boost weekly flights.
“These flights prepare a stage to increase the term of hypersonic flight tests in this country,” said Krevor. “The possibility of having a fully reusable of hypersonic flight architecture allows a very high flight term along with a high reaction. DUD can call Stratolaunch, if there is a priority program, and in next week we can have a hypersonic flight, assuming the readiness of all other technologies and loads.”
In 2022, the Pentagon officials set the purpose of increasing American ability to hyperponsonic tests from 12 to 50 flight tests per year. Krevor believes that Stratolaunch plays a key role in that this happens.
Catching up
So why is it essential for hypersonic flight processing essential?
The Pentagon tries to close what he considers a technological gap with China, which consider that American officials have become a world leader in the field of the development of hypersonic rockets. Hypersonic weapons are more arduous than conventional missiles for air defense systems for detecting, tracking and destroying. Unlike ballistic missiles, the hypersonic weapons ride at the top of the atmosphere, increasing their maneuverability and the ability to avoid captivating.