A New Zealand-designed and built rocket-powered aircraft created history last week, becoming the first to break the sound barrier.
Multinational company Dawn Aerospace says its Mk-II Aurora "spaceplane" reached a speed of Mach 1.1 during a test flight and climbed to an altitude of 82,500ft.
That's the fastest and highest altitude achieved by an aircraft flown from New Zealand, and the company says it's the first time a civil aircraft has flown supersonic since the Concorde.
The space transportation company believes the milestone makes the Mk-II Aurora one of the fastest privately-developed aircraft on the planet, even though it's still a scale model.
Dawn Aerospace has bases in Christchurch and in the Netherlands, and successfully launched the test aircraft from their base at Glentanner Aerodrome near Mt Cook.
It says the Aurora is designed to fly to the edge of space twice in a single day, and reach speeds of Mach 3.5 during ascent and re-entry.
Company CEO Stefan Powell says the achievement sets the stage for the Aurora-class to become the world’s highest and fastest-flying aircraft, and paves the way for the first operational hypersonic aircraft.
Dawn Aerospace is currently planning a larger Mk-III version, which could carry commercial payloads, including satellites.
- By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air
