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| Stratolaunch has completed the second flight of the world's largest aircraft |
Stratolaunch Airlines, founded by late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, has taken another step toward its goal of flying hypersonic aircraft in the air.
The company has completed the second test flight of a giant aircraft carrier called the Rock, which is known to be the largest aircraft in the world.
Rock flew 385 feet (twice the width of a Boeing 747) for 3 hours 14 minutes at 14,000 feet over the Mojave Desert.
Although it did not fly as high as its first test flight a year ago, its flight time was 44 minutes longer than before and the flight took 3 hours and 14 minutes.
According to the company, the successful flight confirmed the aircraft's performance and capabilities, as well as the improvements made to transport aircraft since the last flight.
"Strollaunch is enhancing our country's ability to become a world leader in supersonic aircraft," said Daniel Sitman (Daniel Millman), chief technology officer of the company.
"Today's flight brings us closer to our commitment to provide the best hypersonic flight test service in the world," he added.
The company has begun assembling a version of its hypersonic aircraft, Talon-A, which is expected to fly for the first time early next year.
A reusable version of Talon-A has also begun to be assembled, and testing is expected to begin in 2023.
Stratolaunch's goal is to be able to unleash reusable Talon-A from its fighters.
The hypersonic Mach 6 is expected to provide a hypersonic flight time of 60 seconds and then slow down on a conventional runway to land independently.
Stratolaunch's activities could interest the US military, which sees the supersonic aircraft as a good weapons delivery system with good maneuverability.
Melman said the company is studying ways to help the Department of Defense mitigate the risks of many of the expensive flight tests.
He added: Our experimental base has the ability to carry payloads, test materials, and fly through different configurations of importance so that humans can reach the speed of sound in terms of attack speed and defense ghost.