China Developing Giant Magnetic Launcher for Hypersonic Space Planes

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation’s (CASIC) plans to build a giant magnetic launcher to propel airplanes up to speeds where they can start hypersonic scramjet engines. CASIC has built a 2000 meter long low-vacuum track high-speed maglev test facility in the industrial heartland of Datong, Shanxi province. This is able to accelerate heavy object …

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Sierra Space Spaceplane and Space Stations

Sierra Space will soon launch the Dream Chaser, a reusable lifting-body spaceplane and inflatable space stations. The cargo Dream Chaser is designed to resupply the International Space Station with both pressurized and unpressurized cargo. It is intended to launch vertically on the Vulcan Centaur rocket and autonomously land horizontally on conventional runways. A proposed version …

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Gentle Runway Landings for a Seven Passenger Mini-Shuttle Spaceplane in 2024

The Sierra Space Tenacity spaceplane should have its first flight in 2024. It is compatible with a wide variety of launch vehicles (rockets) and will be launched in a stowed configuration inside a payload fairing. This makes Tenacity significantly more flexible and reduces ascent loads on the vehicle compared to the space shuttle. Dream Chaser …

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Reaction Engines Begins Testing Breakthrough High-Mach Propulsion Under US DOD Contract

Reaction Engines today revealed the start of a new testing campaign to expand the performance envelope of their high-Mach enabling technology through the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) Program at the Department of Defense and supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The FCT Program is administered by the Directorate of Defense Research and Engineering …

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Reaction Engines Targets 2020 to Test Hypersonic Engine for Space Planes

In 2018, Reaction Engines has been building two test facilities which they will use to validate the performance of key parts of the SABRE™ spaceplane hypersonic engine. In the US test facility (TF2) will enable the precooler test article (HTX) to be exposed to high-temperature airflow conditions in excess of 1,000°C (~1800°F) that are expected …

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US Air Force has $1.2 billion in new hypersonic weapon spending to catch up to Russia and China

The U.S. Air Force this week awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $928 million contract to develop a prototype hypersonic cruise missile, or the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon. The project is one of two hypersonic weapon prototyping efforts the service is pursuing. US officials have said they fear the US may be lagging behind Russia and …

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China claims it has designs for a mass production hypersonic engine

China has designs for a mass production hypersonic engine for low-cost planes or spacecraft capable of traveling five times faster than the speed of sound. The plant that would be built in Hefei, in China’s eastern Anhui province, could give the country an edge over the United States and Russia in the race to achieve …

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Boeing HorizonX Invests in Reaction Engines which is on track to 2020 hypersonic airplane engine test

Reaction Engines Limited (‘Reaction Engines’) today announced that it has raised a further £26.5 million in a strategic fundraising by securing backing from some of the most influential names in aerospace and finance which will support its development of SABRETM – a revolutionary new class of aerospace engine combining jet and rocket technologies. New strategic …

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