What is known

Venus Aerospace has completed the first test flight of a drone equipped with a “rotary explosion rocket engine” (RDRE) that propels it to speeds just below the speed of sound. The company plans to one day produce high-speed commercial aircraft using this new engine type.

In a test flight carried out as early as February 24, the company first lifted the 2.4-meter-long and 136-kilogram drone to an altitude of 3,658 meters with its Aero L-29 Delfín aircraft. The aircraft then released the drone, which activated the RDRE.

Watch the test video: video

The vehicle flew 16 kilometers at Mach 0.9 using 80% of the available RDRE thrust. The successful flight proved the feasibility of the technology and associated in-flight systems.

Three weeks ago, Venus Aerospace demonstrated the feasibility of RDRE technology by conducting an extended test flight in which engineers demonstrated that its engines were operating throughout the test flight.

Instead of using continuous combustion like most rocket engines, RDRE operates by using a blast wave that constantly rotates around a ring-shaped chamber. The fuel, hydrogen peroxide, is injected into the annular chamber and repeated explosions become self-sustaining after the initial ignition. In the RDRE test flight, the ring had a diameter of approximately 25.4 centimeters and produced 544 kilograms of thrust.

Technology RDRE is 15% more efficient than conventional rocket enginesVenus Aerospace said in a statement. As a result, a vehicle powered by RDRE can theoretically travel more distance on the same amount of fuel compared to conventional engines that burn fuel at constant pressure.

commercialization

A successful test flight increases the chances of commercially viable supersonic flights. One of Venus Aerospace’s long-term goals is to develop a commercial supersonic aircraft capable of traveling at Mach 9 (over 11,000 kilometers per hour).

By comparison, Concorde is expected to fly just above Mach 2 (less than 2,500 km/h), while the future Lockheed SR-72 prototype is expected to fly above Mach 6 (about 7,400 km/h). An airplane flying at Mach 9 can fly from London to San Francisco in one hour.

Because RDRE may have military applicationsVenus Aerospace also works with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Cons

• The disadvantage is that sustained RDRE bursts will cause any aircraft equipped with them to be incredibly loud.
• Also, rapid, repeated acceleration cycles resulting from sustained explosions, unlike conventional jet engines that provide much smoother acceleration It can also cause increased stress and fatigue of engines and associated support structures.