The third Stratolaunch flight took this giant one step closer to the next milestone

The Stratolaunch plane, also known as the Roc, has just completed its third test flight on January 16 this year, 9 months after the previous test, starting the new year in style for the company. This one is set to significantly increase the number of flights in 2022 and will take on board the world’s largest wingspan at least once the Talon hypersonic test vehicle.

Another milestone for the Roc plane and its Talon hypersonic vehicles. The third Stratolaunch flight has been completed successfully

According to the announcement, the Roc plane took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 11:47 EST. The plane returned to the same airport four hours and 23 minutes later after having climbed over 7,160 meters and reached a maximum speed of 330 kilometers per hour. The flight met all of the company’s goals, including testing the operation of the retractable landing gear in the port hull.

Following the change of ownership, the Roc plane will now serve as a launchpad for hypersonic speed vehicles called the Talon. These are to offer customers a way to quickly test advanced aviation technologies, which is why Talon-A is flexible to modify and is reusable. It measures 8.5 meters in length, has a wingspan of 3.4 meters, and weighs 2722 kg.

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Although we do not know the date of the next tests with the Stratolaunch and Talon aircraft, we do know that the next tests will include retracting the entire landing gear of the aircraft, dropping the TA-0 prototype vehicle over the Pacific and attempting to take off in the air with the already powered TA-1 prototype.