The DIU (Defense Innovation Unit) started the Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities (HyCAT) initiative in early 2023 to address the need for low-cost, high-cadence test capabilities for the hypersonic community.
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and its mission partners are prototyping a suite of modern, low-cost, high-cadence, dual-use airborne testing platforms (vehicles) that provides data that accelerates the evaluation of potential systems, concepts, technologies, and mission sets.
DART AE makes significant use of 3D-printing and is powered by a hydrogen-fueled SPARTAN scramjet engine, capable of flying non-ballistic flight patterns at speeds of Mach 5 to Mach 7 and up to 1000 kms in range (400 seconds flight time). (Photo: Hypersonix Launch Systems).
DIU’s hypersonic and high-cadence testing capabilities (HyCAT) project solutions represents a paradigm shift in viewing the hypersonic realm as a place for aircraft, not just missiles and weapons.
The first contract that DIU awarded was a prototype contract to Hypersonix Launch Systems, an Australian company. The contract is to develop the airborne testing vehicle capable of operating in a ‘representative environment’ that can maintain speeds above Mach 5 with a maneuverable/non-ballistic flight profile and at least a 3-minute flight duration with near-constant flight conditions.
A second contract was awarded to Fenix Space, Inc., located in San Bernardino, California, for its reusable tow-launch platform, which will improve the efficiency and affordability of high-cadence test flights. Among multiple applications of this platform, the Fenix HyCAT version will accelerate hypersonic research.
A third contract was awarded to Rocket Lab, located in Long Beach, California, for its Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) rocket to increase the cadence of hypersonic testing at a decreased cost of traditional flight tests.
By initiating tests at high altitudes, the platform bypasses the most fuel-intensive phase of the launch process, reducing costs and offering increased flexibility in operating locations and schedule responsiveness. DIU’s Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) allows not only flexibility and partnership, but also lets the Department tap into the best of breed technology from around the world. Working with our companies within the borders of partners and allies, opens up new opportunities for the future of interoperability and testing.
The data and analyses resulting from these prototype tests will accelerate the evaluation of potential weapon system concepts, technologies, and mission sets. A second, complimentary HyCAT effort will also be awarded in the next few months and aims to support prototype testing of new hypersonic technologies in the relevant environment, leveraging the modular payload capability being developed under the HyCAT 1 CSO.
Testing of this technology solution is scheduled to take place within 12-18 months.
The first HyCAT flight, a pairing of Hypersonix and RocketLab, has been baselined for the end-to-end mission profile. This initial mission will leverage RocketLab’s HASTE suborbital launch service to inject Hypersonix’s DART AE, a scramjet-powered hypersonic vehicle capable of flying non-ballistic flight patterns. The initial mission date is tentatively scheduled for Q4 in 2024.
Fenix Space Inc, the reusable tow-launch provider, completed integrated concept design and initial flight trajectories for the hypersonic experimental cruise platforms.
The HyCAT initiative expanded the aperture to include additional experimental cruise flight teams, each with their own unique technical approach.
DIU awarded a contract to Innoveering, a GE Aerospace company, for the prototype of an affordable air-launched air-breathing hypersonic testbed. With subcontractors Specter Aerospace and Starfighters International, Innoveering will mature the design, conduct supporting modeling and simulation, and perform system integration to deliver a robust, hypersonic mission in the coming years.
Additionally, Hermeus Corps, joined the HyCAT portfolio, bringing a technical focus on turbine-based combined cycle propulsion and a pathway for dual-use, reusable hypersonic flight aircraft. Hermeus will emphasize demonstration of enabling technologies – aircraft sub-systems and mission integration – needed for future hypersonic aircraft.
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