Stratolaunch reveals its first hypersonic design for high-altitude flights

Stratolaunch首次展示了用于高空飞行的高超音速设计

Fresh off its fifth flight of the biggest airplane ever built, Stratolaunch is readying to test a hypersonic vehicle that will launch from the huge Roc carrier aircraft.

Stratolaunch刚刚完成有史以来最大飞机的第五次飞行，正准备测试一种高超音速飞行器，该飞行器将从巨大的中华民国航母上发射。

The Mojave, California-based company announced (opens in new tab) May 26 that it has structurally completed the Talon-A test vehicle, known as TA-0. A future flight of Roc will release TA-0, which is unpowered, to assess Roc's systems. (The news comes just weeks after Stratolaunch's May 4 flight to check out Roc's landing gear, among other items.)

这家总部位于加利福尼亚州莫哈韦的公司于5月26日宣布（在新tab中开业），它已经在结构上完成了Talon-A测试车，即TA-0。Roc未来的一次飞行将释放TA-0，这是无动力的，以评估Roc的系统。（这条消息是在Stratolaunch 5月4日飞行检查Roc起落架和其他物品几周后发布的。）

"After completing TA-0 separation testing, the company will transition to flying its first hypersonic test vehicle, TA-1," Stratolaunch stated, noting the news was first disclosed exclusively to Aviation Week (opens in new tab). "The team has also started fabrication of a third vehicle, TA-2, the first fully reusable hypersonic test vehicle," Stratolaunch representatives added.

Stratolaunch表示：“在完成TA-0分离测试后，公司将过渡到驾驶其首个高超音速测试飞行器TA-1”，并指出该消息首次独家披露给《航空周刊》（在新标签中打开）。Stratolaunch代表补充道：“该团队还开始制造第三辆车TA-2，这是第一辆完全可重复使用的高超音速试验车。”。

Related: Stratolaunch test photos: The world's largest plane in action

相关：Stratolaunch测试照片：世界上最大的飞机在运行

Stratolaunch initially was going to do the first drop tests with Roc and Talon-A in early 2022, but likely now will achieve full operational capability by mid-to-late 2023, company representatives have said.

Stratolaunch公司代表表示，Stratolaunch最初打算在2022年初与Roc和Talon-A进行首次跌落测试，但现在很可能在2023年中后期实现全面运行能力。

TA-0 should do a captive carry flight later this year, Stratolaunch added on May 26, meaning the vehicle will be tested underneath Roc to see how the test article affects the flight dynamics of the 385-foot (117-meter) carrier aircraft. Drop tests will occur with later generations of Talon-A at some undisclosed date.

5月26日，Stratolaunch补充道，TA-0应在今年晚些时候进行捕获携带飞行，这意味着该飞行器将在Roc下进行测试，以了解测试品对385英尺（117米）航母飞行动力学的影响。塔龙A的后代将在某个未知日期进行跌落试验。

Stratolaunch was originally envisioned as a satellite midair launcher. Established in 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the first test flight took place in April 2019, about six months after Allen died of cancer.

Stratolaunch最初被设想为一个卫星半空中发射器。2011年，由微软联合创始人保罗·艾伦（PaulAllen）创建，首次试飞于2019年4月，也就是艾伦死于癌症的六个月后。

A few months later, in October 2019, a new set of owners bought the company with a fresh iteration of sending hypersonic vehicles aloft. These sorts of vehicles travel at least five times the speed of sound and have lately been the focus of numerous military programs in the United States amid reports that Russia and China are focusing their developments on these high-speed systems.

几个月后，也就是2019年10月，一批新的所有者通过将高超音速飞行器送入高空的新一轮迭代收购了该公司。这类车辆的行驶速度至少是音速的五倍，最近已成为美国众多军事项目的重点，有报道称，俄罗斯和中国正在将开发重点放在这些高速系统上。

Earlier in May, for example, DARPA's Glide Breaker hypersonic missile interceptor program announced a Phase 2 of its program "to conduct wind tunnel and flight testing of jet interaction effects," as the U.S. military agency stated at the time.

例如，5月初，美国国防部高级研究计划局（DARPA）的滑翔破坏者高超音速导弹拦截器项目宣布了其项目的第2阶段，“进行喷气机相互作用效应的风洞和飞行测试”，正如美国军事机构当时所言。

The agency also recently announced that a Lockheed Martin hypersonic missile prototype flew at five times the speed of sound "for an extended period" as part of a separate program, the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). Raytheon Technologies (opens in new tab) completed a HAWC test of its own in September 2021, too.

该机构最近还宣布，洛克希德·马丁公司（Lockheed Martin）的一枚高超音速导弹原型“在较长时间内”以5倍音速飞行，这是另一个项目高超音速空气呼吸武器概念（HAWC）的一部分。2021，雷神科技公司（在新标签中开放）也完成了自己的HAWC测试。

Roc's latest flight, on Star Wars Day (May 4), aced its fifth test from Mojave Air and Space Port after completing its third and fourth test flights at the same location earlier in 2022. The Talon hypersonic vehicles will use a pylon that just flew for the first time on that fifth test flight, Stratolaunch said.

2022年早些时候，在同一地点完成了第三次和第四次试飞后，我国最新的一次飞行于星球大战日（5月4日）在莫哈韦航空航天港进行了第五次试飞，成绩优异。Stratolaunch表示，Talon高超音速飞行器将使用第五次试飞中首次飞行的塔架。

The 8,000-pound (3,600 kg) pylon includes a winch "that will load Talon-A vehicles onto the platform from the ground, expediting launch preparation and reducing the need for ground support," Stratolaunch stated.

Stratolaunch表示，8000磅（3600公斤）的塔架包括一个绞盘，“可以将Talon-a车辆从地面装载到平台上，加快发射准备，减少对地面支持的需求。”。

The hope is the hypersonic test program will allow for outcomes such as technology development, science research or demonstrating key components for high-speed work, the company added.

该公司补充道，希望高超音速试验项目能够取得技术开发、科学研究或演示高速工作关键部件等成果。

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