Stratolaunch Just Bought Virgin Orbit’s 747 For Hypersonics Testing

Bankruptcy is often an opportunity for someone else, a maxim Stratolaunch just proved with its acquisition of a modified 747 from failed satellite launch company, Virgin Orbit.

Stratolaunch intends to re-purpose the aircraft which Virgin dubbed Cosmic Girl and utilized for airborne space-launch, as an air-launch vehicle for its Talon-A reusable hypersonic testbeds. Stratolaunch reportedly acquired Cosmic Girl and its associated launch equipment for $17 million.

If true, the price reflects the modified, specialty nature of this particular aircraft since similar ex-cargo or passenger 747-400s appear to be currently priced at between $6 million – $12 million.

The acquisition from a space-launch company in Chapter 11 is ironic given that Stratolaunch was once in the space-launch business itself. Founded by late billionaire and Microsoft
MSFT
Corp co-founder Paul Allen and famed designer, Burt Rutan, in 2011, Stratolaunch pivoted to the hypersonics test-launch business in 2020 after Allen’s death and the cessation of financial support from the Allen family.

During most of its initial decade, Stratolaunch was focused on the development of its launch vehicle – the world’s largest operational aircraft, named “Roc” after an enormous mythical bird of prey. With a 385-foot wingspan (larger than a football field) and take-off weight up to 1.3 million pounds, the Rutan-designed behemoth suffered challenges that delayed its first flight until 2019.

By then it was evident that the U.S. government was looking to fund hypersonics testing in a big way, signaling an alternate business opportunity for Stratolaunch. That brings us to the present and the recent (May 13) successful Talon-A vehicle separation test.

Talon-A is a rocket-powered, autonomous testbed with the ability to fly a variety of hypersonic flight profiles while carrying customized payload experiments on board. A Talon-A was dropped from Roc’s center-wing pylon over Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Western Range off California’s central coast, confirming telemetry between the vehicles and on-the-ground communication assets.

The separation test paves the way for the first hypersonic flight of the TA-1 in late summer 2023. Real-world hypersonic flight testing is in high demand to validate data that the few available wind tunnels and virtual models cannot. Stratolaunch already has an existing slate of customers and partners for its Roc/Talon-A test combo.

They include the U.S. Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) which plans to track/telemeter hypersonic test flights with repurposed MQ-9 Reapers and RQ-4 Global Hawks on an airborne test range called SkyRange. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has a contract with Stratolaunch to support hypersonic flight testing and the company is a partner to the Multiservice Advanced Capability Test Bed (MACH-TB) project awarded by Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Crane Division.

Adding the 747 will allow Stratolaunch to expand its test capacity and overall business company president and CEO, Dr. Zachary Krevor, told me during a phone interview. “This is really a demonstration of the company and our owners fulfilling a national need in providing hypersonic flight test services. The Pentagon put out a call for more flight testing last February. We’re answering that call.”

The two flight per-month cadence that Stratolaunch had planned for Roc simply wasn’t enough to meet the demand Krevor said. He also pointed out demand from the hypersonic R&D community for simultaneous testing on separate ranges and the 747’s ability to help the company meet such desires both domestically and abroad.

Cosmic Girl is also “generally ready to go” as a launch carrier, requiring little modification. Krevor explained that Stratolaunch had been studying available aircraft to expand its fleet in the course of the past year. This nailed down not only what requirements Talon-A launch platforms will need but made for a quick assessment-of-opportunity of the Virgin Orbit airplane.

Interestingly, Krevor notes that “there are additional aircraft including 747s that can enable Talon hypersonic flight.” In fact, the recent separation testing provided Stratolaunch most all the parameters it needs to assess other potential candidates.

What might those be?

Krevor demurs, citing “proprietary reasons” but allows that a number of aircraft in the large commercial class or even military aircraft could fill the bill. That suggests that twin-engine widebodies from Boeing’s
BA
777 to Airbus’ A330 could suit. Military options would appear pretty limited from used Ukrainian airlifters to C-130 variants.

The addition of Cosmic Girl raises another question. Given the challenge of operating Roc (it is not easy to land or takeoff) and its cost, does the expansion into other launch aircraft spell the end for hyper-giant?

No says Krevor, who maintains that Roc “will continue to be a mainstay” for Stratolaunch. Customers, he adds, have asked increasingly about increasing the complexity of future Talon-A missions with multiple launches of testbeds in a single sortie. Roc can potentially carry up to five Talons (and other systems) while a 747 would likely carry only two.

“Based on our interactions with customers we do see a future where we’re flying complex missions with multiple Talons released from a single aircraft,” Krevor explained.

As for the Cosmic Girl transaction, which closed yesterday, Stratolaunch’s CEO says, “We’re very pleased with the deal we found.” The company expects to begin flying Talon-A missions with the 747 in its new livery in early 2024. When it takes to the test ranges, it will serve both Stratolaunch’s existing clients and another “four to six signed customers” who Krevor says have asked not to be named at this time.

Whether the 747 will keep its name (possibly inspired by the Jay Kay song of the same name?) remains to be seen but, along with Roc, it’ll be firing off some staggeringly quick shots next year.