Stratolaunch takes hypersonic flight dreams to new heights with mid-air release success

Stratolaunch has carried out a successful release of its hypersonic Talon-A vehicle from the company's giant Roc launch aircraft over the Pacific ahead of the first test flight this summer. Founded by the late Paul Allen of Microsoft fame, the business conducted a release exercise on May 13 using a special separation test …

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Interesting aircraft

Well I hadn't seen it before, so had a quick look on Stratolaunch's website and the picture is impressive.

I imagine a fully laden take off would be impressive to watch.

[Eclectic Man]

Re: Interesting aircraft

Previous holder of the record for the aircraft with the largest wingspan to fly was the Hughes H-4 Hercules: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules

But that only flew once.

[Neil Barnes]

Re: Interesting aircraft

Ah but surely they could spruce it up a little?

Goose-hunting jacket, of course --->

[LogicGate]

Re: Interesting aircraft

Some years ago I had the pleasure to see the Spruce Goose in real life, and I must admit that I was underwelmed. the cargo space in the aircraft was much smaller than I had expected for an aircraft of this size. We have come a long way since 1945.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Interesting aircraft

I wonder if it has flight controls in both cockpits.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Interesting aircraft

I imagine a fully laden take off would be impressive to watch.

Depends if it's an African one.

No, wait, that's swallows.

:)

[anothercynic]

Ahhh, excellent! Glad to see Stratolaunch making progress with their effort! If they were to buy Virgin Orbit's assets, that might also make a lot of sense (particularly the tech behind LauncherOne).

But either way, kudos!

[anothercynic]

Aaaand guess what... Stratolaunch just bought Cosmic Girl from Virgin Orbit. They didn't buy LauncherOne though, which went to RocketLab from NZ.

[t245t]

Is there a video of the test?

Is there a video of the test?