Dawn Aerospace has announced the launch of its Aurora unmanned spaceplane. Its first model is expected to be ready for operation in 2027. It will be able to perform commercial suborbital flights to an altitude of 100 km.
Aurora spaceplane
On May 22, Dawn Aerospace said it would begin sales of its new Aurora spaceplane, which can lift cargo to altitudes of up to 100 kilometers. In fact, we are talking about a pre-order, because the first production model of this vehicle is still just getting ready for launch.
Experimental designs have long been proven to be effective. One of them rose to an altitude of 25.1 kilometers in November 2024 and accelerated to a speed of 1.12 times the speed of sound. Now the company is working on a new version that will be able to carry out suborbital flights. It will go into production.
Selling spaceplanes, not seats on them
Aurora is a very small vehicle. Its fully loaded weight is only 450 kg. It is completely unmanned and can only lift a 6 kg load to an altitude of 100 km. However, the company is confident that it will definitely find customers who are interested in lifting research equipment into the upper atmosphere.
The spaceplane only needs 1,000 meters of runway. Once separated from it, it rapidly gains altitude and reaches the upper atmosphere, after which it begins a smooth descent to the airfield. The latter accounts for most of the 30-minute flight.
The main feature of Dawn Aerospace’s idea lies precisely in the commercialization model of their development. While most private space companies sell seats on their vehicles, here they offer the spaceplanes themselves to their customers.
Their explanation is simple: Aurora is not a rocket with wings designed for a few well-controlled flights but a full-fledged high-altitude airplane, which means that it should be operated in the way accepted in aviation, i.e., it should be dealt with by airlines, not manufacturers.
The cost per flight is estimated to be about 100,000 dollars. On its own, this is not such an outstanding result. However, Dawn Aerospace promises that the vehicle will be capable of 100 flights per year, with a total of 1,000 launches, and this is a fascinating proposition.
According to spacenews.com
