Hypersonic

Stratolaunch’s ‘Roc’ boasts a longer wingspan than the ‘Spruce Goose,’ but the military is also interested in its Talon-A testbed.

New Zealand manufacturer Dawn Aerospace achieves supersonic flight with its Mk-II Aurora, which is the first civil aircraft in decades to achieve the feat.

The company said the test craft, part of its Talon-A product line, reached supersonic speeds approaching Mach 5.

The agreement between the company behind the aircraft with the world’s largest wingspan and the R&D arm of the Air Force calls for the first flight test of a hypersonic test vehicle.

The company said it is on track to perform its first hypersonic flight this year.

Autonomous cargo drones are taking up some of the slack from the ongoing pilot shortage, according to the report.

The captive carry test flight was the eighth for Stratolaunch’s Roc, testing its inflight launch capability.

U.K.-based Reaction Engines has a DoD contract to further validate technology for a hybrid jet-rocket high-Mach engine.

Actual engineers from Lockheed Martin created that fictional airplane. Here’s how.

Texas-based Venus Aerospace released the first design of its hypersonic space plane Stargazer that the company says will travel at Mach 9.