Control software for Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle ready for loading into the vehicle's flight computers
SEATTLE – Guidance, navigation, and control software for the Stratolaunch LLC Talon-A hypersonic flying testbed has passed a preliminary design review and is being readied for loading next year into the Talon-A flight-control computers. Aviation Week reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
13 Nov. 2020 -- Officials of the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., say developing the Talon-A precision-guidance flight-control software builds on experience gained over decades of work on spacecraft and hypersonic vehicle programs.
Stratolaunch, which is building the first structural elements of the Talon-A at its facility in Mojave, Calif., will air-launch the vehicle from beneath a six-engine twin-boom mother ship.
The Talon-A is a reusable, autonomous, liquid-fueled rocket to test hypersonic payloads at speeds to Mach 6. Measuring 28 feet long with an 11.3-foot delta wing, the Talon A can recover for an autonomous horizontal landing and take off horizontally under its own power.
Related: The electronics design challenges of hypersonic flight
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics