First flight of space plane demonstrator completed in Germany

November 22, 2022 6

Bremen-based startup company Polaris Raumplanee has successfully completed its first flight of a demonstrator. of technologies its future space plane Athena, built by order of the Bundeswehr. According to the company's just-released statement, the first flight took place on November 8th. After starting from the Peenemünde airfield, the flight of the prototype of the German “spaceplane” took place in a specially created flight restriction zone, which also includes the Baltic Sea adjacent to Peenemünde with a total area of 260 square kilometers.

The demonstrator aircraft was remotely controlled using an automatic flight controller to stabilize the vehicle and prevent stalling, as well as an out-of-line telemetry control system. The length of the route for the first flight was relatively small - about ten kilometers.

This is the third scale demonstration space plane built and flown by Polaris. According to the manufacturer, Athena has a length of 3,5 m and a takeoff weight of 120 kg. The vehicle is initially equipped with four gas turbine engines and is expected to reach a speed of Mach 0,4 (493 km / h)

according to the German website ES&T.

Subsequently, it is planned to equip the spacecraft with rocket engines and an appropriate fuel system, which will significantly increase its flight performance. The strong and rigid structure of the aircraft is already designed to withstand 6,6g lateral maneuvering loads, and the landing gear is designed to withstand even hard landings.

Polaris explains that the reusable multi-purpose space planes it is developing will have special functions: take off and land, like airplanes, on conventional runways, but at the same time be able to autonomously change operational bases, and most importantly, reach an altitude of more than 100 kilometers , i.e. fly into outer space. According to Alexander Kop, one of the leaders of Polaris, the company also plans to develop a hypersonic aircraft, which, among other things, will be designed to launch satellites. The prototype of such an aircraft is planned to be completed in 2025.

The military orientation of Polaris developments is not hidden. The startup is working on the basis of several contracts it has concluded with the German Ministry of Defense “to study the use for reconnaissance missions” of its future production space aircraft, tentatively called Aurora.

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Uncle Borya

0

22 November 2022 21: 54

Well done Fritz, do not say anything. And what do we have in this direction?
Sergey Latyshev

0

23 November 2022 10: 29

Judging by the size - bullshit.
Any good aircraft modeler will build such models. The development of aircraft modeling allows you to build a flying model from the 1st time even from foam, sticks and a fan .. (the videos promoted such a construction of SU 75 - they did it faster than the state government !!!)

And world competitions come with retractable landing gear, figures of people, lighting and aerobatics ... without any start-ups ...
Igor_E

-1

23 November 2022 16: 51

The one who destroys the enemy's satellites, and defends his own, will have an advantage. The West has already launched several thousand communications, reconnaissance, and radar satellites, and they are slowly starting to launch strange spacecraft (obviously combat-oriented), but our talker Rogozin pissed everything off.
I believe, at hour X, our satellites will be shot down, and we have nothing to shoot down enemy satellites.
vlad127490

0

27 November 2022 18: 25

The EU cooperation works there. The Germans will bring the project to work, in 5 years.
shinobi

0

18 December 2022 19: 25

Even so far, it looks more like another cut. No, the appearance of such systems is inevitable. We have this included in the terms of reference for the 6th generation fighter, but ... As one of our test pilots said about the MiG-31, the problem is not how to throw the plane into space. And how to get it back.
wladimirjankov

+2

19 December 2022 21: 53

Here's what to do. Our military-industrial complex should not create a little suitable PAK DA, but make space planes. The United States (x-37), China (has its own shuttle), now Germany has long understood that space will sooner or later be militarized. And whoever succeeds in this, he will own the world. It would be time for our generals and the leadership of the country to finally wake up and take a sober look at the realities. Understand where our planet is heading. And this is clearly not in the direction of the world. We should not hope that we have a nuclear triad. Here we have it, but we cannot use it now in the war with Ukraine. And as it turns out, it is not yet possible to defeat with conventional weapons that we have left from the times of the USSR. Because it's already outdated. The country, due to the short-sightedness and incompetence of the military leadership, has ceased to invest in its development. Funds went mainly to the nuclear triad. The logic behind these people was simple. Who will fight with us, a nuclear country. As we can see, there are. And we all suddenly learned with surprise that our army does not have modern UAVs, AWACS, secure communications, few satellites for radar remote sensing of the earth and optical reconnaissance, there is not enough high-precision weapons, air defense, electronic warfare, etc. And in the course of the NMD, it became clear that the level of strategic and tactical training, organizational, military abilities of our high command, to put it mildly, is also not the highest. Before it's too late, we need to wake up, realize where we are, admit our mistakes, take measures to restore order in the country and the army. Get rid of unnecessary, mediocre, irresponsible people in the command and leadership of the country. Conduct a rigorous selection and promotion of professional, gifted, businesslike and patriotic people to key positions in the state.