Stratolaunch may conduct its third hypersonic test as early as Saturday from California’s Mojave Air & Space Port, based on a Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory. Listed under the mission name Majestic Foxtrot, the launch window for the Talon-A3 vehicle opens at noon and continues through 6 p.m. PST.
The company has not issued public confirmation, but the advisory places the reusable vehicle’s next flight in the same region where Stratolaunch performed its previous hypersonic operations for the Department of Defense’s Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonics Test Bed program.
The company also released a video Friday morning that strongly suggests an upcoming mission that will look to surpass Mach 6 at an altitude of 155,000 feet.
The potential flight follows Stratolaunch’s second successful hypersonic mission with its autonomous Talon-A2 aircraft in March. During that test, the uncrewed, rocket-powered vehicle separated from the Roc carrier aircraft and accelerated to more than Mach 5 over the Mojave Desert. In a press release, the company said the March mission marked the second demonstration of Talon-A2’s reusability and exceeded the speed achieved during its December 2024 hypersonic flight.
“We’ve now demonstrated hypersonic speed, added the complexity of a full runway landing with prompt payload recovery, and proven reusability,” Stratolaunch President and CEO Zachary Krevor said in the release at the time, noting the data would help strengthen future Talon-A designs.
Roc, the world’s largest aircraft by wingspan, served as the airborne launch platform for the Talon’s last flight, although the company’s Friday teaser video shows the Talon utilizing a Boeing 747 launch platform.
The company operates a modified Boeing 747, ‘Spirit of Mojave’, which the company plans to adapt for expanded flight operations under a $24.7 million Missile Defense Agency award announced in January. According to that announcement, the company will use the 747 launch platform “to expand Talon-A flight capabilities beyond the U.S. western coast to a variety of global locations.”
The testing stage of the project would take place in Q4 2025, according to the January announcement. According to a company statement at the time, the test would look to demonstrate “critical capabilities for testing advanced missile defense systems against the growing threat posed by hypersonic weapons.”
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