A team from China’s Northwest Polytechnic University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics has successfully launched Feitian-1, a combined cycle rocket (RBCC).

Although China is one of the three main competitors for the development of a practical hypersonic weapon system, it is extremely difficult to obtain reliable data on China’s hypersonic program. China tends to keep its projects secret, and publications come through state-controlled media or are phrased like the test is for an orbital spaceplane.

What’s particularly interesting about the Feitian-1 launch is that it uses an RBCC engine to propel the rocket to speeds in excess of Mach 5. The RBCC engine is a combination of air jet direct jet air jet engine, air jet scramjet and channel rocket.

As the rocket accelerates, the engine switches from one mode to the next, allowing it to deal with the airflow entering the inlet at higher speeds and then becoming a pure rocket at maximum speed and high altitudes.

Such an engine has several advantages, the main of which is that it does not need to carry as much oxidizer as a conventional rocket, since it can collect oxygen from the air like a conventional engine. This allows it to carry more fuel or a larger payload. In addition, Feitian-1 can run on aviation fuel.

The RBCC engine is the first in a hypersonic aircraft, according to Northwestern Polytechnic University’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. According to the statement, ground flight tests provided a smooth transition from one mode to another and met the expected thermal regulation of throat and combustion over an ultra-wide flight range.