Dawn Aerospace Joins European HYDEF Programme with In-Space Propulsion Expertise
Delft, The Netherlands – 8 July 2025 – Dawn Aerospace is proud to announce its role in the HYDEF (Hypersonic Defence Interceptor) programme — a strategic initiative funded by the European Union to develop Europe’s first counter-hypersonic interceptor system.
Dawn Aerospace has been contracted by Diehl Defence to support the design and evaluation of advanced liquid propulsion systems for the interceptor’s kinetic vehicle. Dawn’s contribution focuses on feasibility assessments, propellant system architecture, and subsystem-level innovation, bringing Dawn’s leading liquid propulsion technologies into Europe’s strategic defence landscape.
“As a Dutch company with a strong heritage in space propulsion, Dawn Aerospace represents the type of sovereign industrial capability Europe can increasingly leverage to strengthen its strategic autonomy and defence resilience”, said Jeroen Wink, Co-founder and Director, Dawn Aerospace. “Supporting HYDEF aligns with our commitment to a stronger Europe”.
Dawn Aerospace Netherlands has now shipped over 40 in-space propulsion systems to customers worldwide including France, the United States, India, Italy, Japan. To their knowledge, this makes Dawn the fastest-growing provider of green propulsion to satellite manufacturers, globally, a technology a critical for high-performance, rapid-response satellite manoeuvring.
HYDEF is part of the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) defence initiatives and is coordinated by OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation). It brings together 13 partners across seven European countries to enhance Europe’s resilience to emerging high-speed threats.
Dawn Aerospace’s contribution to the HYDEF program demonstrates how Dutch technological expertise is integral to bolstering Europe's strategic autonomy and defence readiness.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s European Defence Fund under grant agreement No 101074966 – HYDEF.
About Dawn Aerospace
Dawn Aerospace, founded in 2017, is a leading green propulsion provider to satellites, with its In-Space Propulsion HQ in the Netherlands and further operations spanning France, New Zealand, and the United States. Dawn Aerospace has hardware on 35 satellites on orbit, with customers in more than 10 countries including France, Germany, Netherlands, the USA, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, Canada, Indonesia, and Korea. The fast-growing company offers turnkey propulsion systems for a wide range of satellites, including NanoSat, MicroSat, ESPA, and ESPA Grande-class satellites.
In addition to Dawn’s in-space propulsion, Dawn is developing the fastest and highest-flying aircraft ever to take off from a runway, due to reach altitudes of 100 km (328,000 ft). This spaceplane, Aurora, combines the extreme performance of rocket propulsion with the reusability of conventional airplanes to enable high-frequency, low-cost access to high altitudes and space.