NASA enters Space Act Agreement with Aerion for Hypersonics nasa.gov

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NASA and Aerion Supersonic will commence a joint study with the intention of accelerating realization of commercial high-speed flight and faster point-to-point travel.

NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate seeks to enable the next generation of commercial air transport by generating innovative concepts, capabilities, and technologies for revolutionary advances to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

“NASA’s Hypersonic Technology Project (HTP) is looking forward to working with Aerion in the pursuit of developing these hypersonic technologies to advance future civilian transportation,” said Shelly Ferlemann, associate project manager for HTP at NASA.

The two parties will engage in research and development on a future generation of ultra-high-speed, or high-Mach, aircraft.

“This is a continuation of a long-standing relationship between Aerion Supersonic and NASA,” said Aerion’s Chairman, President & CEO, Tom Vice. “At Aerion our vision is to build a future where humanity can travel between any two points on our planet within three hours. This partnership will enable the development of technologies that will help realize ultra-high-speed point-to-point global mobility solutions in the Mach 3-5 range.”

Specifically studying commercial flight in the Mach 3-5 range, the collaboration will be used to evaluate the parametric suitability of propulsion and thermal management technologies. Through a joint assessment, the impact of Mach 3+ speed regimes will be explored to also establish solutions for enabling technologies in respect of integrated power generation and cabin systems.