WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand company developing a supersonic, remotely operated, rocket-powered aircraft has been given the all-clear to break the sound barrier, Jack Daleo writes for Flying. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
19 July 2024 - New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approved Christchurch's Dawn Aerospace with its approval to fly at unlimited speed up to 80,000 of altitude and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).
Dawn says its Mk-II Aurora aircaft is the first to be able to reach 100 KM of altitude - the edge of space - twice in a day.
“This unlocks the next major performance milestone for the Mk-II vehicle, namely supersonic flight,” said CEO, Stefan Powell. “To the best of our knowledge, this would be the first privately funded UAV to break the sound barrier.”
“At full performance, the Mk-II will fly faster and 2.5 times higher than any prior aircraft that takes off from a runway, including the current record holder, the SR-71 Blackbird. That is the power of bringing rocket performance to an aircraft platform,” said Powell.
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Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
