Latest news with #SpaceportAmerica
Gizmodo
19-05-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Texas Startup's Wild New ‘Exploding' Rocket Aces First Flight Test
The U.S. is one step closer to achieving hypersonic flight after Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based propulsion company, successfully launched a test of its rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) on Wednesday, May 14. The company claims it is the first U.S.-based test of this technology, which is finally coming to fruition after decades of research and development. Eventually, RDREs could power high-speed aircraft capable of traveling more than six times the speed of sound, Venus Aerospace stated in its announcement. 'We've spent approximately four years and a portion of our $84 million in venture funding to take the RDRE from academic theory to flight-proven engine,' Sarah 'Sassie' Duggleby, co-founder and CEO of Venus Aerospace, told Gizmodo in an emailed statement. 'What makes the RDRE remarkable isn't just that it works—but that it's orders of magnitude more affordable than traditional propulsion systems,' she added. The company launched a small rocket equipped with this 2,000-pound-thrust (roughly 907 kilograms) engine from Spaceport America in New Mexico. According to Aerospace America, the duffel-bag sized engine propelled a small rocket to an altitude of 4,400 feet (1,341 meters) and burned for seven seconds, pushing the rocket to about 383 miles (616 kilometers) per hour—roughly half the speed of sound. The aircraft flew for about 30 seconds, then touched down with a gentle parachute landing, and recovery crews retrieved it, Aerospace America reports. Theorized since the 1980s, RDREs are designed to be highly efficient and compact. This allows them to produce more thrust with the same amount of fuel as a traditional combustion engine, which combines highly pressurized propellant with an oxidizer inside a combustion chamber and burns them to produce a steady stream of exhaust that propels the aircraft forward. Instead of exhaust, vehicles with RDREs are propelled by shockwaves. These engines use a sustained injection of fuel and oxidizer to create a wave of continuous explosions—or detonations—that travel around a circular channel. This produces a shockwave that shoots out the back of the aircraft at supersonic speed. This technology has the potential to drastically reduce flight time, improve fuel efficiency, and reduce costs across multiple sectors—including military, commercial, and spaceflight systems—Venus Aerospace claims. 'Compared to traditional jet or rocket engines, our RDRE is up to 10 times cheaper to build and operate,' Duggleby said. 'That's because it has no moving parts, runs on storable fuels, and can be 3D-printed in about a week. As we scale into production and licensing, we expect the cost curve to continue to improve,' she added. Once commercially available, RDREs could allow governments and companies to manufacture hypersonic weapons at a fraction of the cost of current versions, Andrew Duggleby, CTO and co-founder of Venus Aerospace, told Aerospace America. What's more, these engines could launch space payloads four times larger than the current technology is capable of, he said. Achieving sustained hypersonic flight has been the company's goal since it was founded by Sassie and her husband Andrew in 2020. They foresee a bright future for the global hypersonics market, projecting it to surpass $12 billion by 2030 due to multi-industry demand. But they still have a long way to go before their RDRE can power sustained hypersonic flight. Following last week's successful test flight, Venus Aerospace plans to conduct a thorough post-flight analysis to evaluate the engine's performance and inform future iterations, Sassie Duggleby said. The company, she added, aims to have operational RDRE systems by the early 2030s. In the meantime, it will focus on scaling the technology up, honing in on its best applications, and engaging with potential investors—including U.S. defense and national security agencies, as well as commercial customers. So, the future isn't here quite yet. But last week's test flight marks a major step towards bringing this highly powerful propulsion system out of the realm of science fiction and into reality.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Venus Aerospace debuts potentially revolutionary rocket engine with landmark 1st flight (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Houston-based startup Venus Aerospace has completed the first-ever test flight of a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) in the United States. The launch took place on Wednesday (May 14) from Spaceport America in New Mexico. A small rocket equipped with Venus' RDRE lifted off at 9:37 a.m. EDT (1337 GMT; 7:37 a.m. local time in New Mexico). The milestone marked the first successful test of such an engine from U.S. soil and took Venus a "step closer to making high-speed flight accessible, affordable and sustainable," the company said in a statement. "This is the moment we've been working toward for five years," Venus CEO Sassie Duggleby said in the statement. The test serves as a proof of design for Venus's RDRE and keeps the company on track for runway-based high-speed flight, she added: "We've proven that this technology works — not just in simulations or the lab, but in the air." The Venus RDRE uses a compact, high-efficiency design the company hopes can eventually power aircraft up to Mach 6 — six times the speed of sound — starting from conventional runways. Compared to traditional rocket engines, RDREs offer greater thrust in smaller packages, but up until now the technology has been mostly theoretical. Normally, rocket engines burn fuel in a combustion chamber in a steady, controlled process. RDREs use a continuous detonation wave that travels in a circle within a ring-shaped chamber, which produces higher pressure and efficiency and results in increased thrust with less fuel. Related stories: — US Army launches hypersonic missile from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — Space Force aims to launch 1st 'Foo Fighter' satellites in 2027 to track hypersonic threats — Stratolaunch's Talon-A2 prototype goes hypersonic after dropping from world's largest airplane (photos) "This milestone proves our engine works outside the lab, under real flight conditions," Venus CTO Andrew Duggleby said in the same statement. "We've built an engine that not only runs, but runs reliably and efficiently — and that's what makes it scalable." The RDRE is designed to work in tandem with Venus's VDR2 air-breathing detonation ramjet — a combination the company says will enable sustained hypersonic flight without the need for a booster. (Hypersonic flight is generally defined as Mach 5 and above.) "This is the foundation we need that, combined with a ramjet, completes the system from takeoff to sustained hypersonic flight," Andrew Duggleby said. With the successful test in the books, Venus is planning full-scale propulsion test of their integrated system as it moves to qualify the design of its future Stargazer M4, a reusable passenger aircraft capable of reaching Mach 4.
The National
16-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Virgin Galactic to launch next-generation space tourism flights in 2026
Virgin Galactic says it is on track to begin tourist flights on its next-generation spaceplane next year, with tickets set to go on sale in early 2026. The cost per seat is reportedly to increase from the $450,000 of its predecessor to $600,000. The company is ending suborbital flights on the VSS Unity spaceplane to focus on developing its new Delta vehicle, which is being designed to fly more frequently. Virgin Galactic revealed the timetable during its first-quarter profit update, where it reported a net loss of $84 million, an improvement from the $102 million deficit during the same period last year. 'We are seeing encouraging signs from Virgin Galactic's earnings call about their progress on their new Delta-class suborbital spaceplanes,' said Anna Hazlett, founder of UAE-based space advisory firm AzurX. 'The market does need more supply as we see stronger demand signals from private customers globally.' The Delta-class vehicle would be a major upgrade from the VSS Unity, which carried out 12 flights overall since 2018. The new spaceplane would be capable of flying up to eight times a month, carrying six passengers per flight. Beginning commercial operations would also allow the company to clear an existing backlog of about 700 ticket holders. Virgin Galactic operates its spaceflights from Spaceport America in New Mexico, where customers undergo health checks and training before their suborbital journey. The company is also carrying out studies to potentially develop a second spaceport in Italy. 'I visited the airport in southern Italy that Virgin Galactic is considering for expansion last year and the enthusiasm from the local government, businesses and the community was really something,' said Ms Hazlett. 'It's clear to all how much this type of operation can benefit the local economy. It's an exciting time for human spaceflight and the impact that commercial space travel is having on new regions worldwide.' The VSS Unity flights offered a brief suborbital experience that featured several minutes of weightlessness and views of Earth from an 89km altitude. The spaceplane would land back on runway after being launch from a mothership. The Delta-class flights will offer a similar experience. Meanwhile, rival Blue Origin resumed its space tourism programme last month after a near two-year pause. On April 14, the company completed its 11th crewed suborbital flight, sending six passengers on board its New Shepard rocket, including singer Katy Perry and Jeff Bezos's fiancee Lauren Sanchez. Blue Origin's fully reusable system, which takes off vertically, also offers a few minutes of weightlessness during suborbital flights and has carried several high-profile passengers since beginning space flights in 2021.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
How Las Cruces lost the Spaceport America Cup
Mar. 9—LAS CRUCES — For seven years, the world's largest annual college-level rocket competition drew thousands of visitors to Las Cruces and to New Mexico's taxpayer-built spaceport in Sierra County — except during the COVID-19 pandemic — for a week of exhibitions, rocket launches and ceremonies that filled the convention center and promoted Spaceport America's vertical launch facility. But this year, the nonprofit Experimental Sounding Rocket Association, which has organized the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition since 2006, has permanently moved the competition to Midland, Texas. The Spaceport America Cup, as the event was known since it moved from Utah to New Mexico in 2017, is no more. Over 120 teams from universities in dozens of countries and 34 states participated in the event last June, with 1,800 participating in person. The top prize was claimed by a team from the University of Maryland, while the Chile Cup — a regional prize for competitors from New Mexico and West Texas — went to the University of New Mexico. The competition also drew researchers harvesting data from payloads attached to rockets flying up to 30,000 feet. Aerospace companies seized opportunities to recruit engineering talent among the contestants. ESRA President Steve Taylor said the move came about because competitors had requested "new and more complex challenges to further showcase their engineering proficiency," flying rockets to higher altitudes and accommodating a new two-stage rocket category. Taylor also said the number of exhibitions had outgrown the Las Cruces Convention Center and that the Spaceport had resisted changes to the event that would allow more teams to participate. Before partnering with the Spaceport, the competition had gathered in a remote area of Green River, Utah. In New Mexico, they found a co-host with experience managing large events and a launch facility adjacent to White Sands Missile Range on the other side of the San Andres mountains. "Spaceport America was able to provide a true launch site," Spaceport Director Scott McLaughlin said in an interview. "We knew how to take care of the restricted airspace. We already knew how to take care of things like bathrooms. ... We had ambulances standing by, a brush truck in case there's a fire, and we know how to do triage for all those people. It was work, but it was something we knew how to do." With the Spaceport's involvement, McLaughlin said the competition drew major sponsors such as Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, as well as grant support from NASA. Moving forward, McLaughlin said the Spaceport would aim to engage younger students through events such as the American Rocketry Challenge, a national competition for middle- and high-school students founded in 2002. "The Cup gave us a lot of national and international visibility with college students," McLaughlin said, "but it didn't give us a lot of engagement with New Mexico or regional students." NMSU's rocketry team, the Atomic Aggies, have been hard at work in their campus workshop, assembling components for a two-stage rocket they will bring to the Midland International Air and Space Port this June. Their mission plan includes a lander designed to deploy at altitude with sensors to collect atmospheric data. The team's project manager, senior Daniel Bluedorn, said that in certain ways, the Spaceport's environment is not ideal. Besides air currents and complications from weather, Bluedorn said the Spaceport's proximity to WSMR complicates the competition schedule, as activities on the military installation may require Spaceport activities to hold; and that teams face losing recoverable stages of their rocket if they fall into restricted areas. The Midland venue, by contrast, is surrounded by commercial space, he said. "It is in standard Permian desert, and there are no mountains around, which means that the wind effects up at altitude are going to be a lot more consistent," he said. "That's something we haven't gotten to experience here."
