The Falcon can fly at mach 20 and withstand temperatures that can melt steel, but it�lacks a SATNAV. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
The Falcon's first run ended prematurely. Picture courtesy DARPA Source: Supplied
- Hypersonic plane's second test
- Can strike anywhere in under an hour
- Not the first time a Falcon lost
The hypersonic plane that's so fast it could make the Sydney-London leg in less than an hour has gone AWOL.
The Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 was launched successfully into space from a US Air Force base in California but ground crews lost contact with it about 36 minutes into the flight.
Is the Falcon the legendary Aurora Project?
Embarrassingly, it is the second Falcon the US military has lost. An HTV-2 flown last year returned about nine minutes of data before contact was lost.
Vandenberg Air Force Base had delayed the launch of the Falcon yesterday due to poor weather conditions.
According to the flight plan, the unmanned aircraft was supposed to re-enter the atmosphere, manoeuvre at Mach 20 ? about 21,000km/h�?�and then dive into the Pacific Ocean near Kwajalein Atoll.
The test was intended to increase the technical knowledge necessary for a long-duration hypersonic flight.
Engineers had made several adjustments to the aircraft since its first flight, including shifting its centre of gravity and decreasing the angle flown.
The purpose of the project to allow the US military to hit targets anywhere in the world in under an hour, known as Conventional Prompt Global Strike.
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