TheKutKu
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- 13 February 2023
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An Interesting company....
www.upi.com
www.popularmechanics.com
They were founded in 2020 by Jeff Sponable, a long time USAF and DARPA employee with a long history with RLV (from X-30 to DC-X (as manager) to X-33 and finally program manager for DARPA's XS-1) work and a trained astronaut.
www.nfaero.com
Their goal is to make a VTVL (yes, VTVL) point-to-point Rocket propelled hypersonic transport.
And a PDF explaining their goal (also attached)
It does seem like a pipe dream... except they also have some serious achievement and more reasonable goals:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVvqmmJyRpQ
spacenews.com
They recently succesfuly tested a small (13.5 kN) FFSC Methalox engine. It took them 4 years to develop it. They sadly haven't shared footage of its hotfire yet. They said that they want to eventually increase its thrust to 267 kN. They want to commercialize this engine, but more importantly they have a near time application for this engine in an orbital transfer vehicle.
https://techport.nasa.gov/view/154632 This is a project that they have been working on with funding from and in cooperation with NASA (MFSC)
This Orbital Transfer Vehicle with quite decent performances is at an interesting size, it is larger than some existing OTV (Rocket Lab's Curie kick stage or D-Orbit's ION) but smaller than Impulse Space's upcoming large Helios OTV.
Pentagon invests $1.5M toward 3D-printed hypersonic rocket engine - UPI.com
The Department of Defense awarded a $1.5 million contract to New Frontier Aerospace to continue its work on a 3D-printed rocket engine.
www.upi.com
The Pentagon Is Obsessed With Hypersonics, Especially Its New Rocket Engine
It’s named after Thor’s magical hammer.
Home | newfrontieraerospace
www.nfaero.com
And a PDF explaining their goal (also attached)
It does seem like a pipe dream... except they also have some serious achievement and more reasonable goals:
New Frontier Aerospace tests rocket engine for point-to-point travel
A space transportation startup with visions of high-speed point-to-point travel has started tests of the engine that will power their vehicle.
spacenews.com
They recently succesfuly tested a small (13.5 kN) FFSC Methalox engine. It took them 4 years to develop it. They sadly haven't shared footage of its hotfire yet. They said that they want to eventually increase its thrust to 267 kN. They want to commercialize this engine, but more importantly they have a near time application for this engine in an orbital transfer vehicle.
https://techport.nasa.gov/view/154632 This is a project that they have been working on with funding from and in cooperation with NASA (MFSC)
This Orbital Transfer Vehicle with quite decent performances is at an interesting size, it is larger than some existing OTV (Rocket Lab's Curie kick stage or D-Orbit's ION) but smaller than Impulse Space's upcoming large Helios OTV.
