Calspan and Stratolaunch join forces on testing of Talon-A hypersonic testbed

Stratolaunch LLC, a leader in testing and development for the high-speed aerospace market, has chosen Calspan to build and test models of the fully reusable Talon-A autonomous, liquid rocket-powered Mach 6-class hypersonic vehicle. Under the contract, Calspan Systems, located in Newport News, Virginia will build the scale models, one of which will be tested in Calspan's Transonic Wind Tunnel in Buffalo, NY.

"Calspan is proud to continue our work with Stratolaunch and to provide them with data essential to understanding the performance of their Talon-A hypersonic testbed," said Lou Knotts, CEO of Calspan. "Calspan's mission is to improve safety for the aerospace and transportation communities through simulation, testing, training, and technology services. We plan to expand upon this mission, with our eyes set on the high-speed market including supersonics and hypersonics. We're very excited about the continued evolution of our capabilities in order to better serve our customers for generations to come."

"At Stratolaunch, our mission is to advance high-speed technology through innovative design, manufacturing, and operation of world-class aerospace vehicles," said Dr. Zachary Krevor, chief operating officer of Stratolaunch. "Working with Calspan accelerates our ability to safely launch fully operational hypersonic vehicles from our carrier aircraft."

The models will be completed later this year, and testing will be conducted in Q1 2021.