Mk-II Aurora, Dawn Aerospace's unmanned rocket-powered space plane, tests its jet while on a runway in June 2024. Photo: Supplied/Dawn Aerospace
A Christchurch-based aerospace company says it has had initial talks with the United States military and NASA about using its rocket-powered space plane.
Dawn Aerospace has now received approval from the Civil Aviation Authority to fly its rocket-powered space plane, Mk-II Aurora, at unlimited speeds at up to 80,000 feet.
Co-founder and chief executive Stefan Powell said it was a significant step that the team had been working towards since 2018.
"To the best of our knowledge, this would be the first privately funded aircraft of its kind to break the sound barrier [if successful]," he said.
Eventually the aircraft would be able to take payloads to space for clients and it hoped to offer a range of services, Powell said.
"There's lots of interesting microgravity experiments you can do in biomedical and material sciences. High-speed flight research is also increasingly interesting - ramjet and scramjet research is becoming more and more of a big deal. And there's lots of other Earth observation and being able to look at the world below you like a satellite does but on demand," he said.
Christchurch company's aircraft cleared for supersonic flights
It could also be used for defence capabilities and Dawn had been in contact with the US military, Powell said.
"Naturally, there is some interest in this sort of vehicle, especially in terms of simulating rocket trajectories - like specifically for defence capabilities for being able to detect high-speed rockets. This is a great technology to be able to test radars and those sorts of things on the ground."
No contracts had been signed yet for the aircraft, he said.
Dawn also did not have any input on the US Defence Secretary's report to Congress on allies' rapid space launch capabilities last year, Powell said.
The company would need to get another certification from the Civil Aviation Authority before it could accept clients and fly their payloads, Powell said.
It hoped to receive one by the end of the year.
James and Stefan Powell are two New Zealand brothers behind Dawn Aerospace. Photo: CHARLOTTE ROWLANDS
Once it had that authorisation, each of its possible international and domestic clients would have to go through a rigorous approval process, he said.
Dawn was also looking forward to using the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre at Kaitorete Spit, he said.
"It's fantastic, it's perfectly positioned right next to the ocean, close to Christchurch where we're based ... It's forward thinking on how to attract other [aerospace] businesses to New Zealand and we're very excited to use that facility."
Powell urged the government to continue the momentum.
"I would love to see the New Zealand Space Agency be able to follow in the European Space Agency and NASA's lead and keep increasing [its involvement]."
The next step for Mk-II Aurora was three-month flight testing campaign from now until September, with the aim of reaching supersonic speeds and two flights per day, he said.