The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has given the go ahead on a new hypersonic rocket that can fly eight times the sound of speed, according to New Atlas. In collaboration with Generation Orbit Launch Services, the rocket, dubbed the X-60A vehicle, passed its Critical Design Review. Now, X-60A, an air-dropped liquid rocket specifically designed for hypersonic flight research, is said to come to fruition in 2020.
Creating an aircraft that flies at speeds over Mach 5 (3,806 mph) comes with numerous challenges. This includes the skyrocketing costs associated with technological obstacles. In order to mitigate the costs from escalating, the US Federal Aviation Administration-licensed Cecil Spaceport and the Air Force Small Business Innovative Research program have been looking at moving flights outside of traditional US Department of Defense flight test ranges.
AFRL’s reasoning for the X-60A program is to increase the frequency of flight testing while also lowering the cost of hypersonic technologies in relevant flight conditions. Although hypersonic ground test facilities are integral in technology development, it is also vital to test those technologies with actual hypersonic flight conditions.
This is the first Air Force Small Business Innovative Research program to receive an experimental “X” designation, in a line of historical X-planes that includes the X-15 and X-51A.
The X-60A rocket vehicle propulsion system is a Hadley liquid rocket engine. The aircraft utilizes liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants, and can be dropped from an aircraft that’s the size of a business jet. The liquid fuel makes the X-60A more flexible and has better performance over solid rocket boosters, General Orbit says.
The system is designed to provide a more affordable and accessible means to high dynamic pressure flight conditions above Mach 5.
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