Mk-II Aurora, which is a rocket-powered aircraft, has got approval to fly at unlimited speeds, including supersonic velocity, and up to 80,000 feet altitude. This suborbital spaceplane, developed ...

The rebirth of commercial supersonic flight has kind of, sort of come to pass as Dawn Aerospace announces that its 16-ft (4.8-m) Mk-II Aurora rocket-powered aircraft broke the sound barrier with a ...

An aircraft with the performance of a rocket. ... members of the 130-strong Dawn Aerospace team pose next to the Mk-II Aurora aircraft following a successful test flight on July 25 2024.

Aurora in flight September 2024 during Flight 55 of Dawn’s test campaigns — completing two rocket-powered missions in a single day, a milestone in high-frequency spaceplane operations.

During the test, which took place on New Zealand’s South Island, the startup’s Mk-II Aurora aircraft reached Mach 1.1 and an altitude of 25 kilometres.

With the Mk-II Aurora craft, the company intends to "bring the performance of a rocket to a rapidly reusable aircraft platform." The company unveiled the spaceplane in July 2020.

Dawn Aerospace is also working on its own advancements, with its Aurora aircraft achieving Mach 1.1 and setting sights on Mach 3.5 speeds and near-space altitudes, according to reports by New ...

Heavy aircraft taking off. Aurora’s development team has already completed a series of important tests as part of the SPRINT program. In early 2024, they conducted a ground effect test using a ...

Aurora’s earliest concept drawings depicted an aircraft with a narrow V-tail composed of relatively short and stubby fins, similar to the configuration featured on Lockheed Martin’s F-117 ...