Dawn Aerospace spaceplane prototype hits transonic speeds
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand - 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, David Szondy writes for New Atlas. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
13 August 2024 - "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."
Dawn writes "We are now poised to fly supersonic in Campaign 2-3, scheduled for September. But that is just the beginning. In many respects, the Mk-II is slated to be the highest-performance vehicle to take off from a runway. By the end of 2025, we’re looking to climb faster than an F15, fly higher than a Mig 25, faster than an SR-71, and, ultimately, be the first vehicle to fly above the Karman line; 100km altitude (the generally accepted definition of “space”), twice in a single day. Some of these records have stood for over 50 years."
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Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics