"World's Largest Plane Successfully Tests Hypersonic Vehicle in First Powered Flight"
Stratolaunch successfully completed the first powered flight of its Talon-A hypersonic vehicle, released from its massive aircraft named Roc, reaching high supersonic speeds approaching Mach 5 and collecting valuable data. The company plans to use the data for the upcoming flight of TA-2, a reusable version of the hypersonic vehicle, and is also developing a larger hypersonic vehicle and a spaceplane. Originally founded to launch rockets into space, Stratolaunch shifted focus to hypersonic vehicles after its founder's death and has secured a contract with the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to provide a testbed for developing defense strategies against hypersonic threats.
