Stratolaunch acquires Boeing 777-200ER to support hypersonic Talon-A flights

The addition increases Stratolaunch’s ‘captive carry’ fleet to three aircraft.

US hypersonic flight start-up Stratolaunch has acquired a used Boeing 777-200ER commercial airliner to support the company’s flight test programmes.

The widebody twinjet will be converted into a “captive carry” aircraft that will 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 that was custom-built by Scaled Composites for the captive carry role.

Supplementing the Roc is a Boeing 747-400 named the “Spirit of Mojave” that Stratolaunch acquired after former operator Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy in 2023.

After completing modification work on the new 777 in 2027, Stratolaunch says it will be positioned to maintain continuous launch readiness, boosting overall flight capacity by 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 carrier aircraft in place, Stratolaunch says it will be able to support operations anywhere on Earth, including a broader portfolio of mission profiles and the ability to support concurrent parallel missions.

The six-engined Roc was Stratolaunch’s first carrier aircraft, since being supplemented by two converted passenger jets. Source: Stratolaunch

In July, the company revealed that it has 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 the 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.

The Talon-A first broke the Mach 5 threshold for hypersonic flight in 2024. Source: Stratolaunch

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 freefall 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.

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