Stratolaunch’s Roc carrier aircraft completed its second captive carry flight with the company’s TA-0 Talon-A test vehicle on Friday (Jan. 13). The unpowered TA-0 is being used to validate Roc’s release system and test the behavior of both aircraft during captive carry and separation phases in preparation for testing Stratolaunch’s Talon-A reusable autonomous hypersonic test bed vehicles. Friday’s flight was Roc’s ninth and longest to date, lasting six hours and reaching a maximum altitude of 22,500 feet.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/stratolaunch-completes-second-talon-a-captive-carry-flight