German startup POLARIS Spaceplanes has received approval to commence with rocket-powered flight tests of its new MIRA II demonstrator.
Founded in 2019, Bremen-based POLARIS Spaceplanes is developing its AURORA multipurpose spaceplane and hypersonic transport system. Along with a hypersonic testing capability, the vehicle will, with the addition of an expendable upper stage, be capable of delivering payloads of up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit.
In late July, POLARIS Spaceplanes announced that it had received the airframe structures for its MIRA II and MIRA III spaceplane demonstrators. The company decided to move ahead with the development of the two vehicles after the original MIRA demonstrator was damaged during takeoff. The demonstrator had been expected to be the first developed by POLARIS to perform a rocket-powered flight equipped with the company’s in-house developed AS-1 aerospike engine.
According to the company, MIRA II was designed, built, and ground-tested in just six months. The vehicle is five metres long and has a nominal take-off mass of 240 kilograms. It is equipped with small jet engines for pre and post-ignition phases and one AS-1 engine for rocket-powered flight.
On 2 October, the company received an operating license from Germany’s national aviation authority to conduct rocket-powered flights with its MIRA II demonstrator. The approval was granted after the company successfully demonstrated the vehicle’s flight termination system during ground testing. POLARIS has previously stated that it would attempt the first MIRA II rocket-powered flight before the end of 2024.
ALEDA takes to the sky once more
First flown in late 2022, ALEDA was the company’s second demonstrator. The 3.5-metre vehicle is equipped with four ducted fans and was initially used for automated flight controller testing and drone pilot training.
In September, POLARIS Spaceplanes received a specialized operating license to utilize ALEDA to conduct aerial spaceplane refueling experiments. Supported by the BAAINBw (Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support), these experiments will be focused on increasing the operational range and payload capacity of AURORA.
