The widebody increases Stratolaunch’s air-launch fleet to three aircraft.
US hypersonic flight start-up Stratolaunch has acquired a used Boeing 777-200ER commercial airliner to support its flight-test programmes.
The widebody twinjet was previously flown by Air New Zealand and will be converted into a “carrier” aircraft to ferry Stratolaunch’s Talon-A hypersonic flight vehicle aloft for air launches.
Stratolaunch already operates two such carrier platforms, including Roc – the world’s largest fixed-wing aircraft, custom-built by Scaled Composites for the carrier role with ability to perform both air-launch and “captive carry” missions.
Supplementing the Roc is a 747-400 dubbed “Spirit of Mojave” that Stratolaunch acquired after former operator Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy in 2023.
After completing modification work to the 777 in 2027, Stratolaunch says it will be positioned to maintain continuous launch readiness, boosting overall flight capacity 35%.
“As demand for hypersonic technologies continues to grow, we’re building the operational scale to make routine hypersonic testing a reality for our customers around the world,” says Zachary Krevor, chief executive of Stratolaunch. “Adding the reliability of a Boeing 777 aircraft to our fleet enhances our flight flexibility and strengthens our long-term capacity as we work to provide the nation and our customers with the test cadence needed to accelerate hypersonic innovation.”
With the third aircraft in place, Stratolaunch says it will be able to support operations anywhere on Earth and to complete both a broader portfolio of missions and parallel missions.
In July, the company revealed having completed more than 10 hypersonic flights with the Talon-A, after first breaking the Mach 5 hypersonic barrier in late 2024. Stratolaunch is working closely with the US Department of War and has typically not confirmed flights until well after their completion, citing security concerns.
Rather than being a frontline platform, Stratolaunch is positioning the unmanned Talon-A as a reusable, cost-effective test vehicle for supporting development of new hypersonic flight technologies and systems
“Compared with traditional ground-launch systems, this approach offers greater range, lower mission costs, flexible deployment and the ability to execute more representative real-world flight profiles,” the company says.
Each Talon-A is powered by a single liquid-fuelled Hadley rocket engine, designed and produced by propulsion start-up Ursa Major.
After being carried aloft aboard one of the Stratolaunch carrier aircraft, the Talon-A is released into free fall before igniting its engine and accelerating into the high-Mach mission profile.
The black-and-white craft, which resembles a miniature Rockwell Space Shuttle, then lands under its own power using conventional wheeled landing gear.
The post Stratolaunch acquires Boeing 777-200ER to support hypersonic Talon-A flights first appeared on FlightGlobal.