Aviation Week 2024 Photo Contest Gallery: Stratolaunch Talon-A2 And Roc

The Roc climbs out of Mojave Air & Space Port on May 30, 2024, for the first of two envelope expansion flights targeted at higher operational altitudes up to 35,000 ft. and speeds up to Mach 0.63. 

In addition to testing internal payloads, the 19-ft.-long Talon can be adapted to trial a variety of external payloads, ranging from alternate nose and rudder shapes to belly-mounted airflow experiments.

The autonomous and reusable Talon-A2 is designed to fly at hypersonic speeds up to Mach 6 for at least 2 min. following release from Stratolaunch’s Roc carrier aircraft.

With Stratolaunch’s Boeing 747-400 carrier aircraft in the background, the company’s Talon TA-2 hypersonic test vehicle displays the nozzle of its 5,000-lb.-thrust Ursa Major-built Hadley rocket engine.

Designed with built-in payload bays for multiple experiments, the Talon TA-2 will be used initially for hypersonic tests under the U.S. Navy’s Multiservice Advanced Capability Hypersonics Test Bed program.

Emerging from Stratolaunch’s Mojave Air & Space Port facility for the first time, the Talon TA-2 was positioned for a photo shoot at sunrise on Dec 9, 2023.

With its center-wing-mounted Talon launch system unoccupied, the 321-ft.-wingspan Roc carrier aircraft took off for an envelope expansion flight in June 2024.

To withstand temperatures up to 2,000F, the Talon-A’s composite airframe incorporates a space-shuttle-like thermal protection system on the nose and wing leading edges.

Pictured here before the Talon-A2’s first captive-carry flight, the launch system is 14 ft. wide and 10 ft. tall, providing ample clearance for the test vehicle.

The Roc climbs out of Mojave Air & Space Port on May 30, 2024, for the first of two envelope expansion flights targeted at higher operational altitudes up to 35,000 ft. and speeds up to Mach 0.63.