NASA has awarded two contracts to explore how current vehicle platforms could be modified to provide reusable, affordable flight-testing capabilities for airbreathing hypersonic aircraft.
SpaceWorks Enterprises, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Stratolaunch, of Mojave, California, will each conduct six-month studies examining ways to bridge the gap between hypersonic ground and flight tests. SpaceWorks received US$500,000 to focus on the X-60 platform, while Stratolaunch received US$1.2 million to study its Talon-A platform.
Unlike rocket-powered vehicles that carry their own oxygen supply, airbreathing hypersonic aircraft take in surrounding air as they fly. This approach enables much longer sustained cruising at hypersonic speeds – defined as five times the speed of sound.
“With these awards, NASA will collaborate with the commercial hypersonics industry to identify new ways to evaluate technologies through flight tests while we address the challenges of reusable, routine, airbreathing, hypersonic flight,” said Dr Nateri Madavan, director of NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program.
The studies aim to define the capabilities needed to achieve flight test requirements for air-breathing hypersonic aircraft, with a focus on high-cadence, cost-effective testing. The work will also potentially support a future NASA Making Advancements in Commercial Hypersonics (MACH) project.
MACH would focus on advancing commercial hypersonic vehicles through the development of supporting infrastructure, including cost estimates and schedule requirements for a potential flight vehicle.
