Hypersonix Launch Systems provided more details on a project that recently received a $2.95 million grant for Cooperative Research Center Projects and is expected to begin in July.

Last week, Hypersonix was announced as the lead on a project titled “DART CMP Airframe – a reusable hypersonic platform” that had won support in Round 12 of the CRC-P program. The team includes Romar Engineering, LSM Advanced Composites and the University of Southern Queensland, and seeks to “deliver a new sovereign manufacturing capability for high temperature oxide-oxide ceramic matrix composites” for a reusable hypersonic craft.

The craft will use a SPARTAN scramjet engine developed by Hypersonix, fueled by hydrogen and capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 12, according to the company. Hypersonic speed starts at around Mach 5, which is five times the speed of sound.

Hypersonix said the project will deliver elements including a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle or drone) airframe “featuring a composite hull and aerodynamic control surfaces, flight avionics and a hydrogen fuel system.” .

In a statement from the company’s Managing Director, David Waterhouse, he explained that DART CMP will be a composite version of their DART AE, which is under development and is scheduled to launch in 2023. AE stands for “additive engineering” and is “the fully 3D-printed version from high-temperature alloys already available in Australia,” Waterhouse said.

“The type of high temperature composites we need for DART CMP are not currently available here, so there is an urgent need to develop these materials in Australia.

“We are grateful that the government recognized this shortcoming and responded by accepting our candidacy. We look forward to having these materials ready in mid-2025. »

The collaborative project would see the aerospace company – which eventually plans to fly small satellite customers into low Earth orbit – support three doctoral students in a developing industry that needed more experts, said Michael Smart, head of research at Hypersonix and its co-founder, and former Professor and Chair of Hypersonic Propulsion at the University of Queensland.

The executive director of USQ’s Institute for Advanced Engineering and Space Sciences, Professor Peter Schubel, said his team would apply their research expertise in hypersonics and future materials to the mission.

“Our role in the project will be to develop and test the necessary ultra-high temperature composite material prototype,” Schubel said.

“Our expertise in liquid molding technologies, automated fiber placement, pultrusion and filament winding capabilities with exotic materials allow us to develop breakthrough structures.

“As an industry-focused research and technology organization, we are committed to delivering real-world solutions at scale to our customers, utilizing our extensive labs and manufacturing facilities.”

Additive manufacturing would be used where possible, the statement said, with this covered by Romar Engineering with Steve Milanoski, a former SpaceX engineer who leads Romar’s expanding AM team.

Hypersonix and Romar Engineering – an established contract manufacturer based in south-west Sydney – announced a framework agreement to “collaborate on 3D printing and other manufacturing techniques” last July. That same month, Romar received a $5.8 million federal grant to invest in additive manufacturing machinery and personnel to manufacture “space fluid and motion control products.”

“We are excited to work with Hypersonix, USQ and LSM on the development of the DART CMP. The project represents a significant leap forward in technology for the growing Australian space industry,” said Romar CEO Alan Lipman.

Photo: provided

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