Hypersonix Launch Systems has entered the final countdown to the first mission of its scramjet-powered 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.
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 at approximately 7am AEDT on Thursday 26 February.
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 is 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. Named Cassowary Vex by the Defense Innovation Unit and That’s Not A Knife by Rocket Lab, the mission is being conducted on behalf of the US Department of War’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).
The technology was developed by Dr Michael Smart, co-founder of Hypersonix, former Chair of Hypersonic Propulsion at the University of Queensland and former NASA research scientist. Dr Smart said the flight represents a decisive step beyond laboratory and ground validation.
“This mission takes our propulsion, materials and control systems into the real hypersonic environment,” Dr 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.”
Hypersonix CEO Matt Hill said the countdown marks a significant milestone for both the company and Australia’s advanced aerospace capability. “Flying DART AE is a major moment for our team,” Mr Hill said. “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.”
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 is accelerating 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). Hypersonix employs more than 50 people in Brisbane across aerospace engineering, advanced manufacturing and testing roles.
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Its been said before that this aircraft has a range of 1000km, I wonder if it would be suitable to turn into a cruise missile.
If so, it would be a great long range complement to the shorter ranging coastal maritime strike capability Govt is currently pursuing, giving us a double layered coastal defence capability and good as a quick response intermediate strike system for the Army too.