Reusable spaceplane demonstrator completes 5 test flights in 3 daysBy David SzondyAugust 31, 2021Dawn Aerospace has successfully completed five test flights of its uncrewed Mk-II Aurora suborbital spaceplane in the skies over Glentanner Aerodrome on New Zealand’s South Island. The flights were conducted by the New Zealand-Dutch space transportation company from July 28 to 30, 2021 at altitudes of up to 3,400 feet (1,036 m), with the prototype airframe fitted with surrogate jet engines.
Finally some other NSF member got aware of Dawn Aerospace and started a topic. I think they are progressing very well on several developments. Possibly I'll share more info on request.
They don't look much different that Radian. I'm not seeing anything very substantial here either.
Radian has no hardware, while Dawn has small scale prototypes. Radian is trying to build a crewed vehicle, while Dawn's goal is an uncrewed smallsat launcher. Radian wants to build an SSTO, and Dawn is only trying for a two-stage design. They aren't really comparable at all.
Quote from: JEF_300 on 08/21/2022 02:13 amRadian has no hardware, while Dawn has small scale prototypes. Radian is trying to build a crewed vehicle, while Dawn's goal is an uncrewed smallsat launcher. Radian wants to build an SSTO, and Dawn is only trying for a two-stage design. They aren't really comparable at all.I'll admit that was a little harsh. They have complete flight hardwareRadian has been conducting test firings at Brereton airport for some time, but that's about all. I'm just very weary of a company that shows videos with no humans in shot (for scale) and a flight time of less than 2 minutes. There website says it's 4.8m long (IE just shy of 16 feet) and HTP/Kero. With an empty weight of 75Kg and GTOW of 280Kg thats a structural fraction of 26.7% and a stated goal of M3 to give microgravity of 180secs at above 100Km IE space.That potentially opens up the market for academic institutions and businesses that want sounding rocket type access with on-demand availablility. If they sell this as a turn-key package that will be a paradign shift in the industry from solid fuel expendable sounding rockets.Beyond that the Cp/Cm shift over the Mach range will be tough with an engine in the tail. The Mark III is supposed to be 18000Kg and a 250Kg to LEO. That's a payload fraction of 1.38%. Not what you'd expect from a TSTO with an expendable US. This suggests eithera) It'll be a TSTO and the US will be 1)Cost optimised IE Heavy, expendable or 2)Recoverable and reusable. orb) They are going to extend the Mark II into a full SSTO.
MK2 is suborbital only vehicle.
MK3 will be expendable 2nd stage with HTOHL booster ie rocket spaceplane. Mass fractions are about right for this RLV, given boosters extra dry mass due to wings and need to RTLS.
Electron is 2.3% as ELV.
Video is first rocket powered flight of MK2 which is quite an achievement especially as its an automous rocket plane built on shoestring budget. Over next few months they should slowly increase altitude.
Radian has been conducting test firings at Brereton airport for some time, but that's about all.
More than 3 decades since REL laid out in Spaceflight why Skylon had the engine positions it did and what happens if you try to operate with rear-mounted engines over a large Mach range and it seems that yet another spaceplane startup is going to ignore them.
I didn't know that. Awesome
The website says that the Mk-II's max speed is "Mach 3+". That's SR-71 territory. Difficult, but plenty achievable, particularly when using a rocket rather than an advanced jet engine. A rear engine will be just fine for the Mk-II. Mk-III is trickier, since first stage typically go much faster (Mach 10 for F9, Mach 16 for Atlas V). I guess it's possible that they intend for the Mk-III to be more of a pop-up rocket, like the crazy and inefficient proposals that have been discussed for making New Shepard a smallsat launcher. In the end I'm not too worried about it, because the Mk-III isn't what they're working on right now. Perhaps when they start actually working on it, they will discover that they have to redesign it to have centrally mounted engines, but that is a problem for later.
Quote from: JEF_300 on 08/22/2022 04:29 amI didn't know that. AwesomeYes. They are not entirely powerpoint engineering.Quote from: JEF_300The website says that the Mk-II's max speed is "Mach 3+". That's SR-71 territory. Difficult, but plenty achievable, particularly when using a rocket rather than an advanced jet engine. A rear engine will be just fine for the Mk-II. Mk-III is trickier, since first stage typically go much faster (Mach 10 for F9, Mach 16 for Atlas V). I guess it's possible that they intend for the Mk-III to be more of a pop-up rocket, like the crazy and inefficient proposals that have been discussed for making New Shepard a smallsat launcher. In the end I'm not too worried about it, because the Mk-III isn't what they're working on right now. Perhaps when they start actually working on it, they will discover that they have to redesign it to have centrally mounted engines, but that is a problem for later.Yes that's pretty much what I expect them to do. It puts them back at square one in design terms however. What Mark II teaches them about the flying characteristics of the vehicle is unlikely to transfer to their new Mark III designI'm not sure what it's made of. If it's CFRC then without serious TPS their operating limits will not be far above M3 anyway.
The heat loads for suborbital plane shouldn't be that high, see Virgin SpaceShip2.
Pushing toward 40 flights, averaging just under 1 a week now.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 09/21/2022 10:39 amOMG I knew it was small but it's actually tinyIt's teeny tiny. That moment at the end surrounding the vehicle was a real LOL moment. I thought it was an airport, but actually, I think it's a road.This has put a real smile on my face. Both very serious and utterly hilarious at the same time. That said GNC and flight dynamics issues dont really scale (except when they get worse), so there's a lot to be said to solving issues with them at the smallest possible scale, before you scale up, so the control systems are rock solid. If they couldn't get it flying well at this scale they'd be doomed when they scale up. I'll wish them well with their test plan.
They operate out of strip near Mt Cook. COVID would of reduced tourist scenic flight air traffic considerably as borders have been closed for two years.
Quote from: TrevorMonty on 08/22/2022 01:27 pmThe heat loads for suborbital plane shouldn't be that high, see Virgin SpaceShip2.Except Mark III is not designed to be a sub-orbital plane. It's designed as the booster stage for a full up orbital launch vehicle. Staying with a maximum speed of M3 leaves the upper stage needing to make 19-20Machs to get to orbit. Historically the rule of thumb has been to split the delta 50/50 booster to US, but F9 its more 1/4-3/4s, so at least M6. So I think it's safe to say Mark III will need to at least double the top speed of Mark II. Time will tell how that works out for them.
From miltary point of view Dawn's spaceplane has significant advantage over pad based LVs. In a war launch pads would be high value targets and take out in short order if possible. Dawn's plane can operate from any airfield making them lot more resilent to attack. Being able to replaced down satellites quickly from remote airfields is big plus.
If things have gotten to the stage where launch pads are being targetted so will airfields.
Quote from: john smith 19 on 10/12/2022 07:08 amIf things have gotten to the stage where launch pads are being targetted so will airfields. There are far more airfields than launch pads.Of course, no air-launch vehicle can really launch from just any airfield; specific ground support equipment is needed, and could be targeted. But if that equipment is also mobile, perhaps finding it is harder.
In theory and field exercises airfield can be replaced by a stretch of roadway and wheeled GSE vehicles (off road capable military trucks). However keeping the aircraft in service and generating sorties will be much harder.
Launch-site-in-a-box (or the good old TEL) is much more viable than trying to shoehorn a rocket-carrier aircraft into a size and performance that allows it to take off from converted roadways whilst also acting as a launch platform.
$20 million for spaceplanes and green satellite propulsion! 🎉🛰️🌱We are proud to announce Dawn Aerospace has secured #funding from Kiwi investors - @IcehouseVenture, @gd1_vc and @movac_vc 👏#spacetech #vc #capitalraise
A milestone for hydrazine replacement: we now have 50 Dawn #satellite thrusters in orbit, all powered by non-toxic propellants! 🛰️To celebrate, @Stefan__Powell has written an update on #nitrous - why people love it, its drawbacks, and the road ahead👇
Khaki Rodway of Dawn Aerospace says at #NSRC2023 this morning that the company plans to start rocket-powered test flights of its Mk II Aurora spaceplane this month in New Zealand; subscale prototype of its Mk III vehicle, capable of going up to 100 km.
Khaki Rodway, Dawn Aerospace: Building a two-stage to orbit spaceplane. Started with subscale jet powered version to test out systems and air frame, flew 47 times. Concluded flights in September. #nsrc2023Jet engine replaced with rocket engine, did a tie down test. Will fly a rocket powered flight test later this month. #nsrc2023Rodway: Phase II of the flight system is suborbital flights above 100 km (Karman line) with payload. Dawn Mk-II Aurora and Mk-III are remotely piloted. Hope to have Phase II completed by the end of the year. Mk-III wouldbe capable of deploying satellites to orbit.Rodway: Development and testing being done in New Zealand. Will be brought to the USA. If Phase II is completed this year, will be in operation on suborbital flights by this time in 2024. #nsrc2023Rodway: Would like to have a vehicle in every spaceport. #nsrc2023
It’s a pretty straightforward path to HTHL reusable space launch, starting at low performance reusable first stage but with rockets, which are scalable smoothly all the way (potentially) to orbit as performance improvements are done.
HTHL does have advantages in terms of launch sites, which are getting crowded now.
IIRC Len Cornier, ex-North American Aviation
Quote from: john smith 19 on 03/03/2023 05:25 pmIIRC Len Cornier, ex-North American Aviation I think it's Len Cormier.
I actually like this concept a lot. Like XCOR’s Lynx but uncrewed (which honestly makes more sense nowadays, although ironically makes it harder to get approval in the US! …hence New Zealand flight testing…).It’s a pretty straightforward path to HTHL reusable space launch, starting at low performance reusable first stage but with rockets, which are scalable smoothly all the way (potentially) to orbit as performance improvements are done.HTHL does have advantages in terms of launch sites, which are getting crowded now.
They are very much like XCOR (they even use CSJ engines). I wonder if they will realize why tip rudders are nice once they start expanding the flight envelope; I wouldn't be surprised if it gets more Lynx-like in the future. I also wonder if they will eventually evolve to something similar to XCOR's orbital concept.
✅Dawn's Mk-II Aurora spaceplane has been certified for rocket-powered flight! 🚀An update from our CEO, @Stefan__Powell:
Certified and Ready for Rocket-Powered FlightMar 24Mk-II Aurora Integrated Ground TestBy Stefan Powell, CEO I am excited to announce we have received certification from the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA) for the imminent rocket-powered flight campaign of our Mk-II Aurora spaceplane. The mission of the Mk-II Aurora is to fly to space twice in a day and, in doing so, demonstrate that rocket-powered systems can be as reusable as commercial aircraft. This marks the first time a remotely piloted, rocket-powered vehicle has been certified for flight out of a civil airport.Certification as an aircraft is a crucial step towards our mission, as it allows us to operate without excluding other airspace users. This enables us to integrate with existing airspace and fly as frequently as the vehicle permits, rather than as often as we can clear the airspace.In the past, utilising surrogate jet engines, we have achieved two flights within hours and four flights in a day. Rapid reusability is a key property that enables both swift iteration in development and unparalleled utility of the end product.Aside from being a key technology demonstrator, the Mk-II holds significant commercial promise as a suborbital vehicle, spanning a wide range of applications such as earth monitoring, microgravity research, disaster management, and in-situ atmospheric measurements - providing unprecedented enhancements to weather and climate models.Our team has been diligently designing and building the Mk-II Aurora spaceplane since 2018. We have completed 48 test flights using jet engines, validating all non-rocket systems.We have now also concluded static integrated testing of the Mk-II Aurora engine. During the rocket engine's development, it was fired 112 times, including seven instances where it was integrated with the vehicle.With vehicle certification and integration testing completed, we are thrilled to announce that rocket-powered flights are set to begin within the next month. Initial flights will continue to follow a build-up approach, as we have done in the past. The first flights will reach modest speeds and altitudes while aiming to maintain the rapid test cadence we have previously demonstrated using surrogate jet engines.Exciting times ahead!
Small note: it's hard to see in their pic but the Mk-III has two pods for what appear to be air-breathing engines. Likely for self-ferry, loiter and return to launch (takeoff?) site.
Image of the ground test.
Dawn Aerospace completed its first series of rocket-powered flights last week.Mk-II Aurora, a scaled down version of the spaceplane Dawn is developing for commercial operations, took to the skies March 29, 30 and 31 from New Zealand’s Gentanner Aerodrome.The initial test campaign validated key flight systems and demonstrated the benefit of rapid reusability, Dawn CEO Stefan Powell told SpaceNews.During the first flight, the Mk-II Aurora consumed more fuel than anticipated due to a leak in the propellant system. The next day, Dawn engineers removed the Mk-II Aurora engine, took out the oxidizer tank and found the leak.“It was reasonably trivial to fix that, put it back together and fly again,” Powell said. “That speaks to just how different this concept is than a regular rocket. Not only would you have not gotten the vehicle back, but you wouldn’t have been able to execute a repair and show that it works in the same day.”<snip>The Mk-II is designed to reach an altitude of 20 kilometers. During initial flight tests, the vehicle flew to roughly 2,000 meters and traveled at a maximum speed of 315 kilometers per hour.
Max altitude of 20km seems bit low for suborbital vehicle. If it can still provide a few minutes of zeroG then they should have viable business.
The test campaign, which is taking place from the Glentanner Aerodrome in New Zealand, will eventually see this vehicle top out at about 20 kilometers. The lessons learned from this plane will be put into a second version of the Mk-II Aurora, which could take flight before the end of this year or early in 2024.In an interview, Dawn Aerospace chief executive Stefan Powell said this second vehicle would have a far lighter structure, a more powerful engine, and other features that would allow it to climb far higher. The goal is to fly the spaceplane to an altitude of 100 km, above the internationally recognized boundary of space.
🎙️ Today on the show, I’m joined by Stefan Powell, CEO of @DawnAerospace, to talk about their big news: they flew their rocket-powered spaceplane 3 times in 3 days last week!We chat about the company, their plans for the future, and their flights.
I love it. I actually do think that at the very small scale, HTOL isn't totally nuts. And if it's in a place with rational air space regulations like New Zealand (not the US, obv), then you can make it a drone instead of crewed.(This thing is tiny, right? Like 4.5 meters long? This is the same scale as one of those big hobby R/C 1:4 scale fighter jets.)At this scale, you can be a garage startup and maybe hope to get to the Karman Line. Reusably. Then scale up and do maybe microlaunch or something with an HTOL first stage, ala Xcor's Lynx MkIII.
Quote from: TrevorMonty on 04/05/2023 06:45 pmMax altitude of 20km seems bit low for suborbital vehicle. If it can still provide a few minutes of zeroG then they should have viable business. That is not a typo for MK-II. Mk-III will be much higher and carry an expendable second stage to reach orbit.
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 04/05/2023 07:12 pmQuote from: TrevorMonty on 04/05/2023 06:45 pmMax altitude of 20km seems bit low for suborbital vehicle. If it can still provide a few minutes of zeroG then they should have viable business. That is not a typo for MK-II. Mk-III will be much higher and carry an expendable second stage to reach orbit.Even if the Mk-III design carries an expendable second stage to reach orbit, it could in some ways behave more like a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane than a TSTO spaceplane because it is not designed to be launched from a mother aircraft or atop a large rocket stage.
That is a flat out no for SSTO. There are no sustainer engines on any stage burning from horizontal take-off all the way to the inital orbital insertion during the burn of the flight to even be called an SSTO. A carrier aircraft is classed as Stage-0.
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 04/07/2023 04:40 amThat is a flat out no for SSTO. There are no sustainer engines on any stage burning from horizontal take-off all the way to the inital orbital insertion during the burn of the flight to even be called an SSTO. A carrier aircraft is classed as Stage-0.If you're counting the carrier aircraft as Stage 0, then the rocket itself (which has only one stage) would be an SSTO, no? Although if you wanted to call the plane Stage 1 and the rocket Stage 2 (thus making it a TSTO), I wouldn't argue.
Quote from: trimeta on 04/07/2023 02:34 pmQuote from: russianhalo117 on 04/07/2023 04:40 amThat is a flat out no for SSTO. There are no sustainer engines on any stage burning from horizontal take-off all the way to the inital orbital insertion during the burn of the flight to even be called an SSTO. A carrier aircraft is classed as Stage-0.If you're counting the carrier aircraft as Stage 0, then the rocket itself (which has only one stage) would be an SSTO, no? Although if you wanted to call the plane Stage 1 and the rocket Stage 2 (thus making it a TSTO), I wouldn't argue.The previous poster was referring to the Mk-III version which is flying the second stage therefore it is TSTO. It is not being released from a carrier aircraft. Dawn Aerospace is classing their system as a TSTO system.
Dawn flies rocket-powered spaceplane [dated Apr. 5]Quote from: SpaceNewsDawn Aerospace completed its first series of rocket-powered flights last week.Mk-II Aurora, a scaled down version of the spaceplane Dawn is developing for commercial operations, took to the skies March 29, 30 and 31 from New Zealand’s Gentanner Aerodrome.The initial test campaign validated key flight systems and demonstrated the benefit of rapid reusability, Dawn CEO Stefan Powell told SpaceNews.During the first flight, the Mk-II Aurora consumed more fuel than anticipated due to a leak in the propellant system. The next day, Dawn engineers removed the Mk-II Aurora engine, took out the oxidizer tank and found the leak.“It was reasonably trivial to fix that, put it back together and fly again,” Powell said. “That speaks to just how different this concept is than a regular rocket. Not only would you have not gotten the vehicle back, but you wouldn’t have been able to execute a repair and show that it works in the same day.”<snip>The Mk-II is designed to reach an altitude of 20 kilometers. During initial flight tests, the vehicle flew to roughly 2,000 meters and traveled at a maximum speed of 315 kilometers per hour.
Dawn Aerospace completed its first series of rocket-powered flights last week.Mk-II Aurora, a scaled down version of the spaceplane Dawn is developing for commercial operations, took to the skies March 29, 30 and 31 from New Zealand’s Gentanner Aerodrome.The initial test campaign validated key flight systems and demonstrated the benefit of rapid reusability, Dawn CEO Stefan Powell told SpaceNews.During the first flight, the Mk-II Aurora consumed more fuel than anticipated due to a leak in the propellant system. The next day, Dawn engineers removed the Mk-II Aurora engine, took out the oxidizer tank and found the leak.“It was reasonably trivial to fix that, put it back together and fly again,” Powell said. “That speaks to just how different this concept is than a regular rocket. Not only would you have not gotten the vehicle back, but you wouldn’t have been able to execute a repair and show that it works in the same day.”<snip>The Mk-II is designed to reach an altitude of 20 kilometers. During initial flight tests, the vehicle flew to roughly 2,000 meters and traveled at a maximum speed of 315 kilometers per hour.
Quote from: Yiosie on 04/05/2023 06:17 pmDawn flies rocket-powered spaceplane [dated Apr. 5]Quote from: SpaceNewsDawn Aerospace completed its first series of rocket-powered flights last week.Mk-II Aurora, a scaled down version of the spaceplane Dawn is developing for commercial operations, took to the skies March 29, 30 and 31 from New Zealand’s Gentanner Aerodrome.The initial test campaign validated key flight systems and demonstrated the benefit of rapid reusability, Dawn CEO Stefan Powell told SpaceNews.During the first flight, the Mk-II Aurora consumed more fuel than anticipated due to a leak in the propellant system. The next day, Dawn engineers removed the Mk-II Aurora engine, took out the oxidizer tank and found the leak.“It was reasonably trivial to fix that, put it back together and fly again,” Powell said. “That speaks to just how different this concept is than a regular rocket. Not only would you have not gotten the vehicle back, but you wouldn’t have been able to execute a repair and show that it works in the same day.”<snip>The Mk-II is designed to reach an altitude of 20 kilometers. During initial flight tests, the vehicle flew to roughly 2,000 meters and traveled at a maximum speed of 315 kilometers per hour.That 20km altitude comment is bit misleading sounds like it is max. Specifications on webpage is 110km with upto 180seconds of microgravity.https://www.dawnaerospace.com/spacelaunch
Where is the dislike button?An image says more than a thousand words. thus ...
Our first ever composite common dome structure is on the test stand as we undergo development testing for our Medium Launch Vehicle. This configuration allows us to cut out the entire intertank, significantly reducing vehicle weight with fewer parts. pic.twitter.com/hltMeP6qnE
Good article on why Dawn use nitrous oxide and propylene (aka propene) to fuel their satellite thrusters. Auroa II rocket plane uses H202 as oxidizer not sure of propellant. Engine has monopropellant mode which is H202, for low thrust. See the latest youtube video from them and comments.
These are the faces of a happy team holding the 100th B20 thruster off the production line! A milestone we hit last week!🎉🚀#greenpropulsion
The first B20 was produced in 2020. Since then, we have scaled up production significantly and are now producing them at rate of 2 per week. This year alone, we’ll produce and ship 100 of these to customers around the globe 🛰
Excellent video on their spaceplane. Didn't know it was electric pump rocket engine, kind of makes sense given they are a NZ+Dutch company.
twitter.com/astro_rayyanah/status/1663289138831867904QuoteThe first B20 was produced in 2020. Since then, we have scaled up production significantly and are now producing them at rate of 2 per week. This year alone, we’ll produce and ship 100 of these to customers around the globe 🛰
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 05/30/2023 06:40 amtwitter.com/astro_rayyanah/status/1663289138831867904QuoteThe first B20 was produced in 2020. Since then, we have scaled up production significantly and are now producing them at rate of 2 per week. This year alone, we’ll produce and ship 100 of these to customers around the globe Which also means they have a regular cash flow and are not entirely investor dependent.Doesn't guarantee success, but it does improve their odds a bit.
twitter.com/astro_rayyanah/status/1663289138831867904QuoteThe first B20 was produced in 2020. Since then, we have scaled up production significantly and are now producing them at rate of 2 per week. This year alone, we’ll produce and ship 100 of these to customers around the globe
The first B20 was produced in 2020. Since then, we have scaled up production significantly and are now producing them at rate of 2 per week. This year alone, we’ll produce and ship 100 of these to customers around the globe
Could've also included XCOR but video was about Dawn not history of spaceplanes.
Go Falcon, go D-Orbit, go Dawn! 🚀Congratulations to D-Orbit on a successful launch aboard @SpaceX's Transporter8. We’re proud to supply the propulsion which will now take D-Orbit’s customers on to their operational orbit.The number of Dawn thrusters in space is now 63!✨🛰
Dawn Aerospace has promoted Johann Joubert to the role of Head of In-Space Propulsion.Dawn Aerospace has promoted Johann Joubert to the role of Head of In-Space Propulsion.Dawn Aerospace, a space transportation company based in NZ, the Netherlands, and the United States, is on a mission to provide sustainable and scalable ways to access and move around in space. The company is the fastest growing supplier of green propulsion for satellites in the world and has an ever-growing amount of hardware in space having flown on Falcon 9, Soyuz and Vega rockets. Dawn is also building a spaceplane – a launch vehicle that combines the performance of a rocket with the rapid reusability and fleet economics of an aircraft.Joubert joined Dawn with an impressive background in engineering and space. After several design engineer roles developing hardware and embedded systems in the mining & military industries in South Africa, he got his start in the space industry with Space Advisory Company as a technical advisor to companies building satellites. He went on to become the first South African employee of New Space Systems where he oversaw engineering and led the company’s growth for seven years.Joubert joined Dawn in August last year as a Project Manager role but was recently promoted to the Head of In-Space Propulsion, a 50-person team that was, until recently, led by CEO, Stefan Powell.Joubert said, “It’s great to be in a company that has a massive vision. We’re doing revolutionary things. I’m excited to be leading a team that is disrupting the hydrazine space industry and enabling our clients to offer a complete solution rather than just saying here are the parts, away you go. I think it’s a massive game changer.”Dawns’ systems use readily available fuels, nitrous oxide and propylene, which provide safer handling and huge cost savings compared to traditional hydrazine propulsion.CEO, Stefan Powell said, “I’m super excited to have someone as experienced and capable as Johann to hand the reins to. It’s a key role. In-space propulsion is currently the financial backbone of Dawn. Johan impressed us with not only his technical knowledge but also his leadership skills.”Dawn Aerospace also made headlines earlier this year when they flew their spaceplane technology demonstrator, the Mk-II Aurora, under rocket-power for the first time. Read more about Johann’s career journey here.
Mk-II Aurora looking fine on the cover of @BIS_spaceflight magazine ✨Pick up a copy of the August issue to read @Stefan__Powell's interview on the iterative process we’re taking to turn the long-held dream of a spaceplane into a reality 🚀
Oct 18, 2023Dawn's manufacturing team welcomed a new 5-axis mill to the workshop in July! This was another step in scaling up our production to meet growing customer demand for our in-space propulsion systems.
Dawn aren't the only startup developing spaceplanes.Polaris from Germany are using similar development program to Dawn. Start with subscale technology demostrators before scaling up, adding rocket engine and expanding flight envelope.https://www.polaris-raumflugzeuge.de/Technologyhttps://www.space.com/polaris-spaceplanes-mira-light-flight-test-campaign-complete
Dawn Aerospace achieves key rocket engine milestoneDawn Aerospace has successfully completed a full-duration, bi-propellant test of the Mk-II Aurora spaceplane’s rocket engine. The Mk-IIA engine was fired for 112 seconds at their test facility in Christchurch, New Zealand. This engine will be fitted to the Mk-II Aurora, a subscale technology demonstrator for the Mk-III – Dawn’s two-stage to orbit solution for scalable and sustainable space access. The Mk-II Aurora has already completed 50 test flights, 47 with jet engines and 3 under rocket power in March 2023. Dawn’s propulsion team have been working on improvements in preparation for the next set of flight tests, set to take the vehicle to supersonic speeds and above 20km altitude in early 2024 to complete the test campaign of the Mk-IIA. The rocket engine utilizes HTP and kerosene as propellants, rather than the more commonly used liquid oxygen, due to their storability and deep throttling capabilities. These are crucial factors as Dawn builds towards having a global fleet of spaceplanes with aircraft-like operations. Ralph Huijsman, Lead Propulsion Engineer, commented: “While HTP is the right long-term choice for the spaceplane, it led to some interesting challenges in the development of the engine. The available information is extremely limited and is often outdated or walled off. This meant we ran into some fundamental challenges along the way that were difficult to engineer our way out of. That makes this achievement even more special. It is exciting to see everything come together and work flawlessly.” CEO of Dawn Aerospace, Stefan Powell said: “The team has put in significant work to reach this milestone. We're excited about our future flights where we’ll fly MUCH higher and faster than ever before.” The next phase in the development roadmap for the Mk-IIA is to test critical aspects of operating the vehicle such as high-altitude operations and BVLOS flights (beyond visual line of sight). The Mk-IIB will incorporate all the learnings from the Mk-IIA to achieve an optimised vehicle for flights to 100 km. In doing so, it will be the first vehicle to fly to space twice in a day. The Mk-IIB will be a uniquely capable vehicle with commercial applications in atmospheric, microgravity, and high-speed flight research as well as earth observation.
Ralph Huijsman, Lead Propulsion Engineer, commented: “While HTP is the right long-term choice for the spaceplane, it led to some interesting challenges in the development of the engine. The available information is extremely limited and is often outdated or walled off. This meant we ran into some fundamental challenges along the way that were difficult to engineer our way out of. That makes this achievement even more special. It is exciting to see everything come together and work flawlessly.”
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 12/12/2023 03:31 amRalph Huijsman, Lead Propulsion Engineer, commented: “While HTP is the right long-term choice for the spaceplane, it led to some interesting challenges in the development of the engine. The available information is extremely limited and is often outdated or walled off. This meant we ran into some fundamental challenges along the way that were difficult to engineer our way out of. That makes this achievement even more special. It is exciting to see everything come together and work flawlessly.” True. Not the least of which will be the low Isp they'll have to work with in order to 2nd stage launch altitude and velocity. This will make the structural mass available for vehicle (and the 2nd stage it's going to be carrying) even more challenging than with kerolox. Obviously not going for actual SSTO (even the assisted kind Radian are aiming for) helps but that low Isp (a poor jet is looking at Isp of 3000s, 450secs is the vac Isp of the SSME) really hurts structural fraction.I'll wish them good luck. And Merry Christmas to all.
And then - small satellites with an expendable upper stage. Admittedly, Rocketlab probably killed that market - well SpaceX F9 rideshares probably killed it for real.
Part of the engine gets red hot!
Quote from: Emmettvonbrown on 12/13/2023 05:29 pmAnd then - small satellites with an expendable upper stage. Admittedly, Rocketlab probably killed that market - well SpaceX F9 rideshares probably killed it for real.If that market is dead (and I'm not convinced it is), an LV with a rapidly reusable first stage would be just the sort of thing that might be able to reopen it.
I think the beter discription of the purpose for Dawn Aerospace mkII Aurora is :Atmosphere probing vehicle.
Quote from: john smith 19 on 12/13/2023 02:58 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 12/12/2023 03:31 amRalph Huijsman, Lead Propulsion Engineer, commented: “While HTP is the right long-term choice for the spaceplane, it led to some interesting challenges in the development of the engine. The available information is extremely limited and is often outdated or walled off. This meant we ran into some fundamental challenges along the way that were difficult to engineer our way out of. That makes this achievement even more special. It is exciting to see everything come together and work flawlessly.” True. Not the least of which will be the low Isp they'll have to work with in order to 2nd stage launch altitude and velocity. This will make the structural mass available for vehicle (and the 2nd stage it's going to be carrying) even more challenging than with kerolox. Obviously not going for actual SSTO (even the assisted kind Radian are aiming for) helps but that low Isp (a poor jet is looking at Isp of 3000s, 450secs is the vac Isp of the SSME) really hurts structural fraction.I'll wish them good luck. And Merry Christmas to all. ISP isn't everything other wise everbody would be using hydrolox. There are operational considerations. Fuel delivery, storage and handling at remote airfields, not cheap or easy with LOX. HTP allows engine to run in lower thrust monopropellant mode, they use this for taxiing and inflight maneuvers, with bipropellant mode used for climb to space, watch the videos.
Part of the engine gets red hot!The other advantage of HTP is its high density. 1.4424 kg/L compared to LOX at 1.149 kg/L. It also has a high oxidiser to fuel ratio, typically over 7! At delta-Vs below 7 km/s, this results in smaller tank sizes compared to kerolox for the same performance. Another advantage is that no ignition source is required. Decomposed HTP will ignite spontaneously with kerosene due to its high decomposed temperature.
Yeah, density is sometimes even more important than Isp, ESPECIALLY for an SSTO rocket.
LOX is also capable of simple densification down to maybe 79-80k just with LN2 (based on the temperature loss through the X33 sub-cooling HX). I think that would get you up to about 1.2Kg/L.
You can get 1.2539 kg/L at -206.7 C (66.5 K), 11.6 K above the freezing point of -218.3 C (54.9 K).
Fire 'em up!🔥Check out this sneak peek of a long(er) duration burn of our next-gen B20thrusters – now steady state capable for those more demanding maneuvers🌌Watch this space 👀✨
How big is a satellite?🛰People are often surprised that many satellites are the size of a loaf of bread🍞 These small sats need small engines for mobility🌌Enter the CubeDrive, a rocket engine for CubeSats ✨(and Dawn’s first system launched to orbit, way back in 2020).