The New Zealand-based space company, Dawn Aerospace, has for the first time tested its spaceplane, the Aurora Mk-II, with a rocket engine, the company announced yesterday. Over three days at the end of March, the Aurora Mk-II was tested with the rocket engine developed by Dawn for its aircraft.
The 4.5-meter-long space plane reached a height of 1800 meters and had a top speed of 315 km/h, according to Dawn in a press release. The company’s CEO, Stefan Powell, said after the three test flights:
To have demonstrated rapid reusability in the first tests is proof of our core philosophy, and confirmation that rocket-powered vehicles can be operated just like commercial jet aircraft. This fact allows us to rapidly test now, but in the future, it will completely revolutionize the economics of space access.
These flights were a monumental achievement for Dawn Aerospace, and the result of years of hard work from the team. After conducting three tests in three days, we believe Mk-II is the most rapidly reusable rocket-powered aircraft in operation
Dawn Aerospace has its sights set on using future models of the Aurora for transportation both on Earth and into orbit around the Earth. Their future model, Aurora Mk-III, is planned to have the capacity to transport one ton of material during suborbital flights and to deliver satellites weighing up to 250 kg to the lower Earth orbit, also known as LEO.
Below is a video clip filmed during the Aurora Mk-II’s test flights with a rocket engine, as well as some more pictures from the tests.
