Purdue partners with hypersonics research firm

January 24, 2023

Monday, January 23, 2023 05:56 PM EDT
By Wes Mills, Content Manager
(L-R) Stratolaunch CEO Zachary Krevor, U.S. Rep. Jim Baird of Indiana and Purdue’s Dan DeLaurentis and President Mung Chiang. (Photo provided)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - California-based aerospace company Stratolaunch LLC and Purdue University have established a partnership to accelerate the process to design, build, test and fly hypersonic vehicles. The company says it will establish the Stratolaunch Advanced Programs Office at the Convergence Center in Purdue’s Discovery Park District in West Lafayette. The partners say they will leverage the university’s hypersonics research, including air vehicle design methods. “Stratolaunch’s unique capacities to provide access to flight data in long-duration hypersonic conditions complements Purdue’s advanced hypersonics laboratories and the cutting-edge research by our faculty to advance these technologies while providing our students with real-world learning experiences,” said Purdue President Mung Chiang. Stratolaunch runs flight tests in the Mojave Desert, using Talon-A, a reusable hypersonic testbed that the company says makes flight testing more reliable and routine. The collaborators say the integrated team will develop methodologies to accelerate the design to fly time of hypersonic systems. “I’m excited for our partnership with Purdue because of the positive implications it has for streamlining our nation’s hypersonic design capabilities,” said Stratolaunch President and CEO Zachary Krevor. “Reducing development and test timelines of hypersonic vehicles is paramount to achieving critical leap-ahead technologies.”