Stratolaunch conducts first powered flight of new hypersonic vehicle off California coast

By JOHN ANTCZAK
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. aerospace company Stratolaunch has conducted the first powered test flight of a new unmanned hypersonic research vehicle. The company says Saturday’s flight of the Talon-A-1 off the coast of California was a success but is withholding specific altitude and speed details. Hypersonic describes flights at speeds of at least Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. Chief Executive Officer Zachary Krevor says in a statement that the Talon reached high supersonic speeds approaching Mach 5 and collected a great amount of data. Krevor says he could not release the specific altitude and speed because of proprietary agreements with customers. The Talon was air-launched from beneath the wing of its huge six-engine carrier aircraft.