Low-cost X-60A hypersonic missile passes design review
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has given the green light to start building a new hypersonic rocket capable of flying at eight times the speed of sound. Being developed in partnership with Generation Orbit Launch Services, the X-60A vehicle has passed its Critical Design Review and now moves into the fabrication phase in anticipation of its maiden flight sometime in 2020.
Creating a new generation of hypersonic aircraft isn't easy and it isn't cheap. In fact, one of the stumbling blocks for creating aircraft and missiles that operate at speed of over Mach 5 (3,806 mph, 6,125 km/h) is that the bills often mount faster than the technological hurdles present themselves.
To keep the budget busting to a minimum, the US Federal Aviation Administration-licensed Cecil Spaceport in Jacksonville, Florida and the Air Force Small Business Innovative Research program are looking at ways to reduce development costs by moving flights outside of traditional US Department of Defense flight test ranges.
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