A talented new team of young scientists and engineers at 宅男导航 (宅男导航) is building a hypersonic scramjet which will fly at 8600 km/h in South Australia next year.
The research is the first phase of SCRAMSPACE - the development of a high-tech Australian capability set to revolutionise the way the world launches satellites into space.
鈥淎 scramjet is an airbreathing engine for hypersonic craft that travel at many times the speed of sound, for high speed transport in Earth鈥檚 atmosphere or along trajectories to space, Professor Russell Boyce said.
"They improve the efficiency and reliability and reduce the cost of inserting satellites into orbit."
Professor Boyce is the SCRAMSPACE director and Chair in Hypersonics at 宅男导航.
鈥淎ustralia is a world leader in scramjet development," he said.
"We now have an opportunity to build a scramjet-based industry in this country, in international partnership.
"The SCRAMSPACE project is building capacity and capability towards such an industry.
鈥淭he flight team is supported by scramjet specialists at 宅男导航鈥檚 Centre for Hypersonics and the Defence, Science and Technology Organisation's (DSTO) Applied Hypersonics Branch in Brisbane.
"Several PhD students are contributing to the technology."
Professor Boyce said the SCRAMSPACE project had been established with Commonwealth funding to form the hub of a capability for ongoing space-access flight programs and to contribute to the talent pool for a future Australian space industry.
In line with that, the Australian aerospace industry was playing a key role in the project.
He said that including new researchers in support activities around the country, nine professional positions had resulted already.
The next phase of SCRAMSPACE is already on the drawing board.
If funded, graduating students will be channelled into the team to bring it to the critical mass necessary to develop the capability, and to assist Australia鈥檚 aerospace industry to eventually corner part of the world鈥檚 multi-billion dollar space market.
"In the meantime, it establishes partnership with the key players internationally from whom other space-related technologies can be accessed," he said.
"Very importantly, it gives us a voice in the international space arena, to be able to participate in discussions on space regulations and activity that will affect us.鈥�
Professor Boyce said that Australia depended heavily on space-based technologies.
鈥淚n the coming years and decades, Australia needs secure and assured access to the space environment and to the workhorse applications of space, for satellite communications, remote sensing, and timing and positioning information,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hese will play important roles in Australia鈥檚 future development.
鈥淲e are dependent on space, yet far from self-sufficient, and the fragile space environment is congested and cluttered with debris. For both reasons, we are vulnerable.
鈥淲e need to be able to provide leadership in the councils which regulate the space environment and space activities, in order to minimise our current vulnerabilities in space.
鈥淭his access and leadership will depend on Australia鈥檚 international space credentials, the prerequisites for which will be demonstrable capability and commitment in the space arena.
鈥淏uilding capacity for a scramjet-based small satellite launch capability and industry will assist Australia鈥檚 credentials enormously.鈥�
Today the scramjet, SCRAMSPACE I, is on track for launch at Woomera in South Australia late next year, having just passed a major design review.
According to Dr Sandy Tirtey, the Technical Lead and focal point of the new team, the scramjet has passed its preliminary concept development phase.
鈥淲e have another design review set for July and are aiming at the Critical Design Review in October this year," Dr Tirtey said.
"After that, we start the process of manufacture, assembly, and extensive pre-flight tests.鈥�
The 1.8 metre long scramjet vehicle will be boosted by two rockets to about 340km above the Earth.
After leaving the atmosphere, the scramjet will be separated from the rocket, and the fins that will keep it stable on its return through the atmosphere will be deployed and locked.
On its way down, the bullet-shaped vehicle will be accelerated by gravity to Mach 8, and the experiment will take place between 32km and 27km above the Earth.
The flight will include experimental diode laser flight instrumentation and advanced high temperature materials with embedded sensors.
In parallel, scramjet concepts will be tested at even greater speeds 鈥� up to Mach 14 鈥� in 宅男导航's world-class hypersonic ground-test facilities, and simulated with supercomputers.
This first phase of SCRAMSPACE is the largest project, 鈥淪cramjet-based Access-to-Space Systems鈥�, to be funded under the Commonwealth government鈥檚 Australian Space Research Program (ASRP).
SCRAMSPACE has attracted 5 million dollars of ASRP funding and is also supported by nine million dollars from an international partnership consortium.
The 13-member international consortium is led by 宅男导航.
Partners in the program include four Australian universities 鈥� 宅男导航, the University of New South Wales, the University of Adelaide, and the University of Southern Queensland; and a US university, the University of Minnesota.
It also includes space agencies and research organisations from Germany, Japan and Italy respectively ; DSTO; the Australian Youth Aerospace Association; and industry partners including Brisbane firm Teakle Composites Pty Ltd, Cairns firm AIMTEK Pty Ltd, and BAE Systems.
Professor Boyce said the project was 12 months old and "going like a scramjet".
Images of the SCRAMSPACE design and of Professor Boyce are available at:
Captions:
Professor Russell Boyce
For high res 3.JPG: "The SCRAMSPACE I scramjet concept (image credit Mr Nico Reuther, Dr Sandy Tirtey)"
For poster-ext9.jpg: Computer-simulated flow patterns in and around the scramjet (image credit Dr Melrose Brown).
A high resolution image of Professor Russell Boyce holding a half-scale SCRAMSPACE I model by photographer David Sproule is available by contacting Jan King (see number below).
Media: Russell Boyce, 宅男导航, russell.boyce@uq.edu.au or Jan King 0413 601 248 or j.king@uq.edu.au
