Ibadan, 7 October 2024. – Dawn Aerospace has demonstrated the rapid reusability of its rocket-powered aircraft, the Mk-II Aurora, with two flights within 8 hours. The flights took place from Glentanner Aerodrome on the South Island of New Zealand, reaching speeds of Mach 0.9, 950km/h, and a maximum altitude of 63,000 ft. These were the 8th and 9th flights of the Mk-II Aurora under rocket power.
These flights are part of Dawn’s vehicle envelope expansion program to identify vehicle dynamics in the transonic regime as the Company works towards breaking the sound barrier. Demonstrating same-day reusability was consequently a secondary goal. In the previous two test campaigns, the Company demonstrated three flights in three days.
Nevertheless, same-day reusability is an essential part of Dawn’s strategy for rapid iterative development, and it makes Aurora uniquely suitable for numerous applications in high-speed flight research, microgravity, Earth observation, and atmospheric science. Furthermore, it is a stepping stone to the first operational hypersonic vehicles. Dawn has consequently already signed up several US customers to fly payloads on Aurora as early as Q4 2024.
Stefan Powell, Co-founder and CEO at Dawn, said, “Being certified as an aircraft is essential to rapid reusability. Our licence permits us to fly as often as the vehicle allows. We can currently fly every 4 hours with scope to reduce turnaround time further.”
Powell also added, “Rapid reusability has been termed the “holy grail” for rocket-powered systems. This milestone shows that our fundamental concept will unlock never-before-seen performance and hypersonic flight in a platform suitable for everyday operations, not just one-off research and development.”