Australia's University of Queensland is seeking additional funding to conduct a second test flight of its Hyshot scramjet engine after it failed to combust on its maiden flight on 30 October.
The Hyshot is an air-breathing supersonic combustion ramjet engine which is being designed to lower the cost of launching small payloads such as communication satellites.
The Hyshot research team says that, while a payload containing the engine was launched successfully aboard a modified Terrier Orion rocket, unspecified "flight anomalies" took place prior to the scramjet experiment. Investigations into the anomalies are continuing, says the university.
The Hyshot engine experiment was intended to take place in the final seconds of the payload re-entry phase, after the Terrier Orion vehicle had carried it to an altitude of 186 miles (300km) above the Woomera Rocket Range in the Australian outback. The Astrotech-built Terrier Orion went out of control after second-stage ignition and only reached 62 miles altitude.
The failure has led to a decision to defer this week's flight of a scramjet payload designed and developed by the UK's DERA. A new launch date is dependent upon the outcome of the investigation into the30 October flight.
Source: Flight International
