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Boeing
has said that it will use the information gained from Tuesday’s record-setting flight of
NASA’s Hyper-X research vehicle.
Powered by an air-breathing supersonic combustion ramjet engine, or “scramjet,” NASA’s 12.3-foot-long Hyper-X (or X-43A) flew
close to Mach 10, or about 7,200 miles per hour, on Nov. 16, after being launched from a B-52 off the Pacific coast after liftoff
from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight broke a previous speed record for air-breathing aircraft set in March by another
X-43A at Mach 6.83, or about 5,000 mph.
"This flight is a key milestone and a major step toward the future possibilities for producing boosters for sending large and
critical payloads into space in a reliable, safe, inexpensive manner," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. "These
developments will also help us advance the Vision for Space Exploration, while helping to advance commercial aviation
technology.”
As part of the team that developed and built the X-43A for NASA, the Boeing Phantom Works advanced R&D unit designed the
vehicle, the airframe thermal protection systems, and flight control and navigation systems.
“Breaking speed records with this new scramjet technology is very exciting for us,” said George Orton, Phantom Works
manager for hypersonic design and application. “But, the true importance of these pioneering flights is that we’re learning some
important lessons that we can apply to aerospace systems of the future.”
Because scramjet engines have significantly fewer moving parts than traditional turbojet engines and do not, like conventional
rocket engines, require oxidizer to be carried onboard for combustion, they will allow for the design of smaller, simpler, more
reliable and affordable reusable vehicles for potential space, military and civil applications.
Boeing has been exploring the realms of hypersonic flight (defined as Mach 5 and above) since the 1950s, from the X-15 to the
Space Shuttle to the X-43A. Today, Phantom Works is also working on the Scramjet Engine Demonstrator–WaveRider program
for the U.S. Air Force in a teaming arrangement with Pratt & Whitney, as well as the HyFly Hypersonic Missile Demonstrator
program for the U.S. Navy and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
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