Hypersonix Launch Systems (Hypersonix) has entered the final countdown to the first mission of its scramjet-powered hypersonic aircraft.
“This mission takes our propulsion, materials and control systems into the real hypersonic environment,” co-founder of Hypersonix, Michael Smart, said.
“At these speeds and temperatures, there is no substitute for flight data. What we learn from this mission will directly inform the next generation of reusable hypersonic aircraft.”
The Brisbane-based aerospace company is developing a new class of autonomous hypersonic aircraft capable of sustained flight at extreme speed, range and altitude.
“Flying DART AE is a major moment for our team,” Hypersonix CEO, Matt Hill, stated.
“It reflects years of focused engineering and confirms that an Australian company can design and build technology capable of operating in one of the most demanding flight regimes on Earth.”
Hypersonic flight refers to speeds above Mach 5, more than five times the speed of sound. Hypersonix’s proprietary Spartan scramjet engine is fully 3D-printed, contains no moving parts and has been designed to reach speeds of up to Mach 12.
The mission will see Dart AE, Hypersonix’s 3.5-metre autonomous hypersonic aircraft, carried into the upper atmosphere aboard Rocket Lab’s Haste rocket, purpose-built for hypersonic test missions.
At the planned deployment point, Dart AE will separate and Spartan will ignite, powering the aircraft through its hypersonic flight profile.
The flight is scheduled from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at the Virginia Spaceport Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, within the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, on Wallops Island during a launch window that will open at 4pm Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, 25 February (7am AEDT on Thursday, 26 February).
Named Cassowary Vex by the Defense Innovation Unit and That’s Not A Knife by Rocket Lab, the mission will be conducted on behalf of the US Department of War’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).
The technology was developed by Smart, who is a former Chair of Hypersonic Propulsion at the University of Queensland and former NASA research scientist.
The mission follows Hypersonix’s $46 million Series A funding round, backed by Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund Corporation and Queensland Investment Corporation.
The round was led by High Tor Capital, a UK investor in national security and frontier technology, with European defence company Saab and Polish family office RKKVC also supporting the raise.
The funding has accelerated Hypersonix’s flight test program, expanding advanced manufacturing capability in Queensland and fast-tracking development of the company’s next reusable hypersonic platform, VISR (Velos Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance).