Stratolaunch resurrects its hypersonic rocket vehicle under a new name: Talon-ABY ALAN BOYLE on March 30, 2020 at 6:10 amNow that it’s under new management, Stratolaunch is retooling a concept for a rocket-powered hypersonic vehicle that it first unveiled 18 months ago.[…]The new ownership group, led by billionaire investor Steve Feinberg, recently confirmed that it was continuing Stratolaunch’s work on hypersonic vehicles — and today it unveiled a rebranded version of the Hyper-A, now known as the Talon-A.
Our innovative Mach 6-class vehicle offers a reliable testing environment, enabling the development of hypersonic systems.Built for SpeedThe Talon-A features a length of 28 feet (8.5 m), a wingspan of 11.3 feet (3.4 m), and a launch weight of approximately 6,000 pounds (2,722 Kg). It will conduct long duration flight at high Mach, and glide back for an autonomous, horizontal landing on a conventional runway. It will also be capable of autonomous take-off, under its own power, via a conventional runway.Reliable by DesignIterative flight test exposure reducing customer development schedule, cost and technology risk:Recover Valuable Payloads and ExperimentsRapid Mission Turnaround for Fast Multi-Flight OpportunityCost-Effective Access to the Hypersonic Flight Environment
Stratolaunch says that as many as 3 of the Talon-A vehicles can be launched in a single flight, all carried under the central wing.
It will also be capable of autonomous take-off, under its own power, via a conventional runway.
QuoteIt will also be capable of autonomous take-off, under its own power, via a conventional runway.Is it possible with the same rocket engine? I thought they have to fly with Roc to a high attitude and thin air that a hypersonic vehicle can fly. The only approach to switch engines I knew is Reaction Engines in the UK.
Stratolaunch says that as many as 3 of the Talon-A vehicles can be launched in a single flight, all carried under the central wing. a launch weight of approximately 6,000 pounds (2,722 Kg)
QuoteStratolaunch says that as many as 3 of the Talon-A vehicles can be launched in a single flight, all carried under the central wing. a launch weight of approximately 6,000 pounds (2,722 Kg)Dude, with 250 mt of payload you could carry, not 3, but 91 of them. Same issue as with the ridiculous Pegasus scheme as before: that thing is completely overkill for the job. Hire a White Knight instead.
Black Ice is a fully reusable space plane that enables advanced on-orbit capabilities and cargo return. Initial designs optimized for cargo launch, with a follow-on variant capable of transporting crew.
I can't imagine the 'build something for the DoD that'll be super-expensive to maintain and which they didn't ask for' strategy will work any better than their orbital launch one. USAF are already funding much smaller and cheaper systems for this role, like X-60A and now a SBIR for using Exos' SARGE.
In addition to Talon-A, they also list a spaceplane on their Vehicles page. QuoteBlack Ice is a fully reusable space plane that enables advanced on-orbit capabilities and cargo return. Initial designs optimized for cargo launch, with a follow-on variant capable of transporting crew.Building on their earlier work, I assume?
Quote from: Hobbes-22 on 03/31/2020 09:21 amIn addition to Talon-A, they also list a spaceplane on their Vehicles page. QuoteBlack Ice is a fully reusable space plane that enables advanced on-orbit capabilities and cargo return. Initial designs optimized for cargo launch, with a follow-on variant capable of transporting crew.Building on their earlier work, I assume?Black Ice was announced before their short dead period. Unless plans have changed, it'll be using the PGA they had pretty far into development. It was supposed to replace the expendable vehicles they planned to develop first, looks like those are gone now
In terms of powering the Talon and follow-on vehicles, Stratolaunch says it “is working with engine providers to procure the rocket engine. We will disclose our engine provider when we have more news to share.” Longer term, the company also appears to be holding the door open to potentially resurrecting the PGA liquid rocket engine it was developing to power the new vehicle family. In January 2019 Stratolaunch announced it was abandoning development of a proposed space launch vehicle that would also have been powered by the PGA engine. At the time, preliminary development of the engine was progressing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Commenting on the possibility of restarting the PGA program, the company says only that “long-term development plans will be disclosed at a later date.”
According to this, Talon-A will operate with "an air breathing rocket engine". This sounds new, I think?https://www.janes.com/article/95745/talon-a-hypersonic-testbed-to-achieve-ioc-by-2022
