In 2020, we heard for the first time about the hypersonic Talon-A aircraft, which will be launched from the world’s largest aircraft at an altitude of 10,000 m, so the company Stratolaunch introduced a test version of the Talon-A called TA-0.

With two side-by-side fuselages, six Boeing 747 engines, 28 wheels and 117m-long wings, the Roc is currently the world’s largest wingspan aircraft.

It was originally planned for Roc to deliver hypersonic planes into the stratosphere and then release them. These vehicles will then launch their rocket engines and bring the spacecraft’s payload into low Earth orbit. The idea was that launching a spacecraft this way and using much less fuel would be much easier than launching a launch vehicle directly from the ground fighting Earth’s gravity.

After the change of ownership, it was decided that Roc would be used to manufacture Talon-A drones that would fly at speeds above Mach 5 before landing on the runway. They will mainly be used to study various aspects of hypersonic flight.

The TA-0 is not a complete rocket-powered version of the Talon-A, but a test machine to be used to evaluate and validate the system that will unleash it from under the Roc’s middle wing.

The wing-like pylon mounted on the Roc from which it will be released is made of carbon fiber-sheathed aluminum, weighs approximately 3629 kg and occupies the 4.3m span of the Roc’s middle wing. Includes a winch system to be used to lift and set up the TA-0 prior to takeoff.