Aerospace startup Dawn Aerospace has made a major advance in its push to create a highly reusable spaceplane. The latest test flight reached transonic speeds of Mach 0.92 and an altitude of 50,000 ft (15,000 m), or 3 times and 5 times, respectively, better than before.
These days, there are any number of companies working on projects to get into commercial supersonic or hypersonic flight, develop spaceplanes, or generally launch small satellites into low Earth orbit. However, there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution to for these and some approaches are an interesting mix of old and new.
With the latest flight of its uncrewed Mk-II rocket-powered aircraft in July as part of the company's Campaign 2-2 development program, Dawn Aerospace claims to have improved the vehicle's performance by three to five times, depending on the parameters. When Campaign 2-3 begins in September, the goal is to go supersonic for the first time, with the eventual plan to climb faster than an F-15, reach greater speeds than an SR-71 Blackbird, and to become the first vehicle to fly above an altitude of 100 km (62 miles) twice in a single day.
The basic idea behind Dawn Aerospace is similar to that of NASA's X-15 program of the 1950s and '60s. Essentially, it's to develop a spaceplane incrementally by beginning with a more or less conventional aircraft and improving performance and adding more advanced components as part of each campaign cycle. In the meantime, the aircraft takes off and lands from a runway like a conventional plane and flies in the same general manner.
According to the company, Campaign 2-2 has achieved its goals over three flights. Campaign 2-3 will involve the Mk-IIA aircraft, which will not only fly supersonic, it will also confirm the design across the flight envelope in anticipation of the first hypersonic flights for Campaign 2-3 using the Mk-IIB, which will have 10% more thrust and 30% more total impulse than previous versions.
The eventual goal is to create a spaceplane combining the performance of a first-stage rocket with the predictability and fast turnaround of a conventional aircraft by using a rocket engine that is as reliable as a jet engine.
"We are seeing strong commercial traction in both streams across a wide range of users," said Dawn Aerospace CEO Stefan Powell, CEO. "I expect we will be flying the first payloads to moderate altitudes on the Mk-IIA before the end of this year, and many more with the Mk-IIB in 2025 and 2026. Commercial traction will help inform the next vehicle development decisions."
Source: Dawn Aerospace