Introducing the
The Mk-II Aurora is our first entry into the suborbital frontier and the first-stage demonstrator for our two-stage-to-orbit vehicle. The commercial version of this remotely-piloted, reusable rocket plane is designed to fly multiple times a day from a runway.
The Mk-II will take off horizontally, fly a parabolic trajectory at Mach 3+, and glide back to a horizontal landing at the originating site or downrange. The vehicle’s 3U volume can contain and expose payloads in the upper atmosphere. It is a flexible platform with various mission possibilities, including aeronomy, earth observation, education, in-space science, space weather, and technology development. The Mk-II is the first in a series of vehicles that will merge the world of rockets and aviation to access space in a new way.
The first vehicle in our new road to space
Contact us for payloads at payloads@dawnaerospace.com
DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP
Progressive test campaigns under rocket power
250 km+
Phase One
Complete
Phase Two
In Flight
Karman line 100 km+
Mk-III apogee and orbital stage deployment
Phase Three+
In Progress
10 km
Mk-II (rocket)
Mk-II (jet)
Mk-III
Phase Two
In Flight
3
Rocket-powered flights (and counting)
Objectives
Build-up approach to the Karman line
Fly to space twice in one day
180+ seconds microgravity
Fly under aircraft certification
Phase One
Complete
47
8hrs
Test flights
Total flight time
Objectives
Simulator validation for SITL and HITL testing, crew training, mission design, and mission rehearsal
Fly under aircraft certification
Key vehicle functions in the airframe, GNC, and flight ops
Glide back
Glide landing (unpowered)
Mk-II ROCKET ENGINE
Designed for aircraft-like operations, but with the performance of a rocket. It uses aircraft-friendly, storable propellants for gas-and-go operations. With mono and bi-propellant modes of operation, it’s highly throttleable and restartable. A combination of high-test peroxide (HTP) and kerosene provides both high specific impulse and high-density impulse, important for packing a lot of propellant into a small, aerodynamic airframe. Room temperature storable propellants will not boil off, and carbon fiber will not suffer from microcracking, as is common in cryogenic composite tanks. This enables flexible aircraft operations and near-infinite service life, just as you would expect with any other aircraft.
Dawn Aerospace, a space transportation company, today announced the successful completion of the first rocket-powered flight campaign of its spaceplane, the Mk-II Aurora.