Photo: Hypersonix
It's 2023, and this year we are supposed to get the first test flight of a 3D-printed hypersonic drone made over in Australia by a company called Hypersonix. And although we don't know for sure if the flight is still in the cards, updates on how work on the technology is progressing do come to light from time to time.
Hypersonix is working on a reusable hypersonic platform that can be used like an aircraft. Before getting there, though, a demonstrator has to be made and flown. The thing is officially called DART AE, and it will be put together by means of 3D printing using high-temperature alloys.
Such an approach is needed because the DART is supposed to fly at speeds of over Mach 5 (3,800 mph/6,100 kph), and when that happens friction generates a lot of heat. And that in turn can have some serious and unwanted effects on the aircraft's integrity, especially given how the tech is supposed to be reusable.
Such alloys will be used for DART's powerplant as well. We're talking about a hydrogen-powered scramjet engine called Spartan which eventually should be capable of pushing the DART to an incredible top speed of Mach 7 (5,371 mph/8,643 kph) and, in the even longer run, even Mach 12 (9,207 mph/14,817 kph).
Last week we learned what the Spartan could be made of, after Hypersonix announced it took delivery of parts of the first technology demonstrator version of the engine. Put together by an unnamed European company, it was made using something called High-Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites.
HTCMC for short, these materials can withstand repeated heating and cooling cycles, and also have a high tolerance to increased temperatures. As per Hypersonix, they can also be produced "rapidly and economically," while the engine itself should be capable of flying faster and for longer.
The engine technology itself has so far been subjected to over 6,000 ground firings and 11 sub-orbital flights. It will go on the DART demonstrator being put together with help from Kratos Defense, and it's expected to fly for as much as 500 km (311 miles) at speeds of Mach 7.
When fully matured, the Hypersonix tech will join the rich offering of such hypersonic platforms planned by other companies as well. Like many of the others, the DART will be commercial in nature, meaning Hypersonix will give it to paying customers for whatever needs they have, including hypersonic flight conditions study and data transmission.
Because of the Spartan scramjet and the materials used in its development, the DART should be "much more affordable" than other solutions, although no mention was made as to what exactly that means.
Aside from the DART, Hypersonix is also working on the so-called Delta Velos, a vehicle designed for payload delivery to low-Earth orbit. This one will use not a single Spartan engine, but four of them.
Such an approach is needed because the DART is supposed to fly at speeds of over Mach 5 (3,800 mph/6,100 kph), and when that happens friction generates a lot of heat. And that in turn can have some serious and unwanted effects on the aircraft's integrity, especially given how the tech is supposed to be reusable.
Such alloys will be used for DART's powerplant as well. We're talking about a hydrogen-powered scramjet engine called Spartan which eventually should be capable of pushing the DART to an incredible top speed of Mach 7 (5,371 mph/8,643 kph) and, in the even longer run, even Mach 12 (9,207 mph/14,817 kph).
Last week we learned what the Spartan could be made of, after Hypersonix announced it took delivery of parts of the first technology demonstrator version of the engine. Put together by an unnamed European company, it was made using something called High-Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites.
HTCMC for short, these materials can withstand repeated heating and cooling cycles, and also have a high tolerance to increased temperatures. As per Hypersonix, they can also be produced "rapidly and economically," while the engine itself should be capable of flying faster and for longer.
The engine technology itself has so far been subjected to over 6,000 ground firings and 11 sub-orbital flights. It will go on the DART demonstrator being put together with help from Kratos Defense, and it's expected to fly for as much as 500 km (311 miles) at speeds of Mach 7.
When fully matured, the Hypersonix tech will join the rich offering of such hypersonic platforms planned by other companies as well. Like many of the others, the DART will be commercial in nature, meaning Hypersonix will give it to paying customers for whatever needs they have, including hypersonic flight conditions study and data transmission.
Because of the Spartan scramjet and the materials used in its development, the DART should be "much more affordable" than other solutions, although no mention was made as to what exactly that means.
Aside from the DART, Hypersonix is also working on the so-called Delta Velos, a vehicle designed for payload delivery to low-Earth orbit. This one will use not a single Spartan engine, but four of them.
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