Dawn Aerospace’s robotic space airplane flew with a rocket engine for the primary time final month, taking a significant step towards the corporate’s objective of constructing a totally and quickly reusable craft.
Last week, the 15.7-foot-long (4.8 meters) Mk-II Aurora flew 3 times, and “all test objectives were achieved,” Dawn representatives mentioned in a statement (opens in new tab) issued on Wednesday (April 5). The firm additionally launched a one-minute video displaying the glossy space airplane flying over New Zealand’s beautiful South Island, near the Glentanner Aerodrome the place the exams have been carried out.
In August 2021, the Mk-II Aurora debuted with 5 check flights utilizing surrogate jet engines, however the plan was at all times to pivot to a rocket-powered engine. In the newest collection of exams, which passed off as soon as every day from Wednesday (March 29) to Friday (March 31), the Mk-II Aurora flew to a peak of 6,000 ft (1,830 m) at speeds of 196 mph (315 kph), which is analogous to these the space airplane had achieved throughout its 2021 check flights, Dawn crew mentioned in Wednesday’s replace.
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“This is a phenomenal achievement for our small, but extremely capable, team in New Zealand and the Netherlands,” Stefan Powell, the CEO of Dawn Aerospace, mentioned Wednesday in a different statement (opens in new tab). “To my knowledge, Dawn now operates the most rapidly reusable rocket-powered aircraft in the world.”
The newest check flights aimed primarily to validate the airplane’s rocket engine. So the peak reached by the airplane was not a key issue, and future flights are anticipated to extend each velocity and altitude.
The Dawn crew envisions its Mk-II Aurora, which might carry a small payload of two.2 kilos (5 kilograms), not solely to have the ability to fly greater than 62 miles (100 kilometers) excessive, however to take action twice per day when it carries out industrial operations, equivalent to sending satellites into space. When that manifests, Mk-II Aurora will turn out to be the primary absolutely reusable satellite launcher.
Back in December 2020, Dawn Aerospace was approved to fly the Mk-II Aurora out of a standard airport alongside civil airplanes. This approval, granted by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, the company chargeable for the nation’s aviation security and safety, was one other main win for the corporate.
Airports often wait till launched rockets exit Earth’s atmosphere and generally even reroute industrial flights as a result of rockets can go away particles of their wake that may affect passenger planes. Dawn’s crew says the Mk-II Aurora stands out on this regard as a result of it’s designed to take off and land on a runway, identical to an airplane. The space airplane thus wouldn’t want any particular restrictions or devoted runways.
All of those milestones, together with the success of the newest check flights, advance Dawn’s objective to supply reusable space planes in a scalable and sustainable means, as the corporate seems towards attaining 100 to 1,000 flights per airplane.
“Sustainability is important to us,” Powell mentioned in his assertion on Wednesday. “Beyond being the responsible thing to do, there is no point in building something if we aren’t going to be able to use it.”
As of late 2022, Dawn had raised $13 million to construct a successor to Mk-II Aurora that will have the ability to carry a 550-pound (250 kg) payload to orbit.
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