Hypersonic Aerospike Spaceplane ready to fly again

Hypersonic Aerospike Spaceplane. Polaris Aerospace

Polaris Aerospace is ready to fly this month two new prototypes for its MIRA hypersonic aerospike spaceplane, after the test for an aerospike rocket engine ended in disaster.

“We are excited about the delivery of the glass-fiber composite structures of the latest flight vehicles MIRA II and MIRA III.”

Hypersonic Aerospike Spaceplane. Polaris Aerospace

The identical twins are 5 m long and feature a 30% higher wing area than the 4.3 m long precursor MIRA. This increased size enables us to boost the flight-testing capabilities significantly. In addition, the design has been greatly improved compared to MIRA incorporating all the lessons learned so far.

Hypersonic Aerospike Spaceplane. Polaris Aerospace

Each aircraft is equipped with four turbines and a LOX/kerosene linear aerospike rocket engine.

“We decided to build two vehicles rather than one, in order to speed up flight testing and to have a reserve aircraft. In the coming weeks, we will assemble and integrate the new aircraft, make them flight-ready, and prepare the documentation required for the operation licenses. ”

Flight testing will start in September.

Hypersonic Aerospike Spaceplane. Polaris Aerospace