🚀A state-of-the-art hypersonic engine and a magnolia satellite

Colorado-based rocket engine company Ursa Major has performed key ground tests on its hypersonic Draper engine. The state-of-the-art engine uses a hydrogen-peroxide and kerosene propellant combination that makes the engine incredibly adaptable to in-space missions. This allows a whole host of applications, including for lunar landers and anti-satellite systems.

On the slightly more humble end of the spectrum, Japan’s Kyoto University will soon launch the world’s first wooden satellite to orbit. But is this the most surprising object to ever make it to space? Let’s look into all of this below.

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AEROSPACE ENGINEERING SPOTLIGHT

Ursa Major’s hypersonic Draper engine

Colorado-based rocket engine firm Ursa Major has completed ground testing for its new hypersonic rocket engine.

The engine, called Draper, was successfully fired up over 50 times during hot-fire tests in March at Ursa Major's facility in Berthoud, Colorado. The engine is being developed under an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract.

Ursa Major unveiled the Draper engine back in May last year. The hypersonic engine is being tested for a range of applications, including hypersonic defense, in-space propulsion, and on-demand launch capabilities.

The 4,000-lbs-thrust liquid engine uses a hydrogen-peroxide and kerosene propellant combination. Both of these are storable at ambient temperatures, unlike cryogenic fuels which have to be stored at extremely low temperatures.This makes the engine useful for in-space propulsion systems, such as lunar landers that have to take off after extended periods in space.

The new Draper engine also features an innovative “closed catalyst cycle” design. This allows it to switch off the kerosene and run entirely on decomposed hydrogen peroxide. It can then switch back to a combination of hydrogen peroxide and kerosene.

This flexibility makes the engine ideal for precise maneuvers and prolonged deep space missions. It also means that Draper could be used in anti-satellite systems that have to stay on standby in orbit until they are suddenly called upon.

To develop Draper, Ursa Major leveraged the architectural legacy of Ursa Major’s Hadley engine, combining solid rocket motor storage capabilities with liquid engine throttle control.

AERO BULLETIN

A wooden satellite? The most surprising objects sent to space

A team from Japan is set to launch the world’s first wooden satellite aboard a SpaceX rideshare mission. That got us thinking - what are some of the most surprising objects to have been sent up to space? Let’s take a look.

Japan’s wooden satellite

A team from Kyoto University in Japan designed the LignoSat small satellite to combat the space debris problem. The magnolia wood-based satellite will stay in orbit for roughly half a year. The team will test the satellite’s durability.

If all goes to plan, wood could one day be used as a sustainable alternative. When a wooden satellite re-enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up, it will only produce fine, biodegradable ash.

Human remains

The failed Peregrine lunar lander mission earlier this year carried with it DNA samples, including one from sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. Not only that, it also carried the cremated remains of loved ones to space as part of an initiative organized by space burial organization Celestis.

Unfortunately, the Peregrine lunar lander experienced an anomaly shortly after launch and it never made it to the Moon. The remains burned up in our atmosphere as the lander came crashing back to Earth.

A Tesla Roadster

In February 2018, SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy for the first time. At the time, Falcon Heavy was the world’s most powerful rocket. During that first flight, the massive rocket carried a special payload to orbit, courtesy of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

It was Musk’s cherry-red Tesla Roadster. In the driver’s seat sat ‘Starman’, a mannequin dressed in a SpaceX spacesuit and named for the famous David Bowie tune, ‘Starman’. The electric vehicle and Starman now orbit the Sun between Earth and Mars

Pieces of the Wright brothers’ first plane

Two space missions have launched parts of the Wright brothers’ first plane, the Wright Flyer, beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The Wright Flyer was the first machine to make sustained human flight possible. Its first flight in 1903 marked the beginning of the era of aviation.

In 1969, Neil Armstrong took small parts of the Wright Flyer biplane to the Moon on the Apollo 11 mission. In 2021, a piece of muslin fabric from the Wright Flyer landed on Mars with NASA’s Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter.