dawn aerospace
New Zealand-based space company Dawn Aerospace announced Wednesday that it has completed the first three test flights of its rocket-powered spacecraft.
This Mk-II Aurora vehicle is 4.5 meters long and powered by a combustion rocket engine fueled by kerosene and hydrogen peroxide. During its first flight, the aircraft flew to an altitude of about 1,800 meters and reached a top speed of about 315 kilometers per hour, according to the company.
A test campaign taking place from Glentanner Airfield in New Zealand eventually shows the vehicle topping out at around 20 kilometers. Lessons learned from this plane will be incorporated into his second version of the Mk-II Aurora, which may fly later this year or early 2024.
Exploring the upper atmosphere
Dawn Aerospace CEO Stefan Powell said in an interview that this second vehicle has a much lighter construction, a more powerful engine and other features that allow it to climb much higher. rice field. The goal is to fly the spaceplane to an altitude of 100 km above the internationally recognized limits of space.
“It would only carry a few kilograms of payload,” he said. I think it’s the sub-orbital market for this category.”
What Powell means is that we currently do not have the ability to conduct regular and reproducible studies in the atmosphere from about 30 km to 100 km. With the Mk-II Aurora, the company aims to enable his twice-daily flights, providing a platform for applications such as environmental studies in the mesosphere and thermosphere.
“Anything over 30km is too high for a balloon and too low for a satellite.” Some researchers call it the ignore-o-sphere. It is therefore theorized that there is much value in better understanding this part of the atmosphere. We just start loading a basic data collection payload into the.”
The company’s goal is to operate its fleet with aircraft-like efficiency, taking off and landing from runways, using non-exotic fuels, and without the need for significant modifications between flights. Vertical launch companies start by building rockets with maximum lift capacity and work on reusability over time, Powell said. Dawn is starting with a reusable vehicle and trying to build its capabilities.
As such, the Mk-II Aurora plane is also a test bed for the larger Mk-III Aurora spacecraft intended to carry expendable second stages and payloads into space. The goal is to eventually launch a satellite with a mass of about 250 kg into low earth orbit.
rapid reusability
The Mk-II Aurora took off under the power of a single rocket engine intended to launch to an altitude of approximately 30-40 km, then coasted to approximately 100 km before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. increase. While the company is still evaluating options for protecting the spaceplane during the heating of atmospheric reentry, Powell’s engineering team is working to develop high-temperature composites consistent with the company’s goals of frequent flights. You said you think you can use it.
“We are qualifying this as an aircraft,” Powell said. “So once you have the certification you are allowed to fly as often as you like as long as you stay within the parameters of that certification. It’s one big difference that encourages more reuse.”
dawn aerospace
Dawn Aerospace currently has about 110 employees, most of them in New Zealand, but also has a technical team in the Netherlands. Powell said half of them are in the company’s satellite propulsion business, which is profitable. The other half work on space planes. To date, the company has announced $20 million in funding. Cash flow from the space propulsion side of the business helps fund the Aurora vehicle.
“We are burning cash right now,” Powell said. It’s very easy to rely on, so it really seems like a selective investment…”
