Dawn Aerospace rocket-powered aircraft successfully completes supersonic flight

By Lucy Craymer

Dawn Aerospace's rocket-powered aircraft successfully completed its first supersonic flight, the company said in a statement on Tuesday, as it moves forward with developing aircraft able to launch satellites.

It said the Mk-11 Aurora craft surpassed the speed of sound for the first time on Nov. 12, reaching Mach 1.1 and climbing to an altitude of 82,500 feet (25.14 kilometres)

"This is over twice as high as commercial aircraft and marks the first time a civil aircraft has flown supersonic since Concorde," the company said in the statement. The test flight occurred near Mt Cook in New Zealand's South Island.

Dawn Aerospace, which is jointly headquartered in the Netherlands and New Zealand, is developing rocket-powered aircraft, which could be used to launch satellites. It has been testing its latest model over the past few months.

"This achievement highlights the immense potential of rocket-powered aircraft to achieve performance never seen before," said Stefan Powell, chief executive of Dawn Aerospace.

The company said the MK-11 Aurora was also the fastest aircraft ever to climb from ground level to 20 km.

Aurora is designed to fly to the edge of space twice in a single day, will reach speeds of Mach 3.5 during ascent and re-entry, and is powered by pure rocket propulsion, the company said.