Frequently
Asked Questions

Stratolaunch is a leading pure-play hypersonics company, focused on the design, manufacture, and operation of advanced aerospace systems for national security.

Stratolaunch enables faster, more affordable, and more realistic hypersonic development through an autonomous, reusable, air-launched flight test platform and a growing portfolio of hypersonic target and mission-system offerings. 

Stratolaunch develops and delivers advanced hypersonic capabilities that help government and commercial customers accelerate the development, testing and deployment of next-generation aerospace and defense technologies.

Today, the company operates across three complementary business areas:

• Autonomous, Reusable Test Vehicles that enable customers to evaluate technologies in real-world hypersonic flight conditions.
• Expendable Targets that replicate real-world hypersonic threats for missile defense testing, military exercises and training.
• Weapons Sub-Systems that provide hypersonic subsystem development for defense primes and government customers.

Together, these capabilities help customers accelerate innovation, collect critical flight data and move new technologies from concept to capability more quickly.

Several capabilities distinguish Stratolaunch from traditional aerospace & defense companies:

• The only autonomous, reusable, air-launched hypersonic flight platform in the U.S., enabling faster iteration, greater affordability and more frequent testing. We are developing the ability to air-launch multiple hypersonic vehicles in a single flight.
• Vertically integrated platform, combining specialized aircraft, reusable hypersonic vehicles, vertically integrated facilities, and deep engineering expertise into a platform difficult to replicate.
• Operational maturity, with a demonstrated track-record of high-cadence hypersonic flight, expanding customer engagement, and a clear path to scale across testing, targets and related mission systems.
• A critical national security partner, supporting customers across offensive and defensive hypersonic mission sets.

Stratolaunch's vision is to accelerate U.S. leadership in hypersonics by delivering the technologies, capabilities and infrastructure needed to advance next-generation aerospace and defense systems.

As demand for hypersonic capabilities continues to grow, Stratolaunch is committed to expanding its portfolio of reusable test vehicles, expendable targets and weapons sub-systems while increasing flight capacity and operational flexibility.

By enabling faster innovation across the hypersonics ecosystem, Stratolaunch aims to remain a leading hypersonics company and a trusted partner in advancing U.S. national security.

Stratolaunch serves a growing portfolio of customers that includes the U.S. government, defense primes, emerging defense technology companies, and potential allied nation customers. The Company operates a prime-agnostic business model serving the entire defense ecosystem rather than competing within it.

Together, these capabilities position Stratolaunch as a leading pure-play hypersonics company.

Hypersonic flight refers to speeds greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.

Vehicles operating at hypersonic speeds encounter extreme temperatures, aerodynamic forces, and complex flight conditions that require specialized testing before operational deployment.

As a leading pure-play hypersonics company, Stratolaunch is helping advance these capabilities through reusable test vehicles, expendable targets and weapons sub-systems that accelerate the development of next-generation aerospace and defense technologies.

Hypersonics are a national security necessity. Systems that travel above Mach 5 are difficult to predict, track, and defeat, creating an urgent need for the United States and its allies to accelerate development, testing, and deployment given the capabilities of competitors, China and Russia.

Today, the market is constrained by testing capacity. Hypersonic systems require real-world flight data, but legacy test infrastructure has been expensive, scarce, and too slow to support the pace of innovation required.

As demand for hypersonic capabilities continues to grow, so does the need for reliable, repeatable, and responsive flight testing.

As a leading pure-play hypersonics company, Stratolaunch provides the critical infrastructure necessary to accelerate innovation by enabling faster, more affordable, and more realistic hypersonic development.

The Talon-A is Stratolaunch's reusable autonomous hypersonic test platform. It is the only autonomous, reusable, air-launched hypersonic flight test platform in the U.S.

Designed specifically for flight testing, Talon-A enables customers to evaluate advanced technologies under true hypersonic flight conditions while supporting data collection throughout the mission. [Stratolaunch currently has multiple Talon-A testbeds.]

The Talon-A platform represents a significant advancement in reusable hypersonic testing.

Rather than building an entirely new test vehicle for every mission, customers benefit from a reusable platform that increases testing frequency while helping reduce costs and development timelines.

Spirit of Mojave is Stratolaunch's Boeing 747 airborne launch platform.

It complements Roc by providing customers with an additional aircraft capable of supporting a broad range of hypersonic flight test missions.

Roc is the world's largest fixed-wing aircraft by wingspan.

It was specifically designed as an airborne launch platform capable of carrying large payloads beneath its center wing section before releasing them during flight.

Today, Roc continues to serve as one of Stratolaunch's unique flight test assets.

Stratolaunch was founded in 2011 by philanthropist and technology entrepreneur Paul Allen.

His vision was to create an air-launch platform capable of carrying large payloads into space. That vision led to the development of Roc, the world's largest fixed-wing aircraft by wingspan.

While Stratolaunch was originally focused on space launch, the company has evolved into the global leader in reusable hypersonic flight testing with rapidly advancing technologies that accelerate the development, testing and deployment of next-generation hypersonic capabilities.