Bremen-based startup POLARIS Spaceplanes has announced that on 4 October, it took delivery of a pair of its in-house designed AS1 aerospike engines.
The company is developing AURORA, a multipurpose spaceplane and hypersonic transport system. The vehicle can be equipped with an expendable upper stage to enable it to deliver up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. The maiden flight of AURORA is currently expected to take place in 2026.
The two engines that POLARIS took delivery of early this week were produced by German additive manufacturing specialist AM Global and are what the company describes as “thick-walled ground-test engines.” In addition to the engines, the company has also taken delivery of LOX and kerosene injectors and a number of other key components. POLARIS expects to begin its first ground test campaign of the engines within the next two weeks.
While the company prepares for that initial test campaign, a pair of lighter flight test engines are currently being printed by AM Global. This pair of engines will be utilized aboard MIRA, a subscale prototype of AURORA.
MIRA will be 4.24 metres long and will feature a fiber-reinforced fuselage shell, four kerosene-fed turbine engines, and one aerospike rocket engine.
The first flight test of MIRA is expected to take place before the end of the year. In August, the company received approval for temporary restricted aerospace over the Baltic Sea to enable this testing.
