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HYPERION

Suborbital HYPERsonic spa-ceplane capable to support payload In Orbit iNsertion

Main Goals of the Project

The project is aimed at consolidating feasibility and carrying out the preliminary design of a suborbital vehicle intended to enhance air-defense capabilities (surveillance and interception) against emerging threats posed by hypersonic weapon systems, as well as to air-launch into low Earth orbit (LEO) a microsatellite-class payload from altitudes on the order of 40–50 km.

More specifically, HYPERION is a supersonic/hypersonic vehicle with hybrid turbojet/rocket propulsion, designed to perform repeated suborbital flight maneuvers within a single mission, without the launch-site constraints typical of alternative systems.

Its main capabilities include:

  • horizontal takeoff and landing from/onto short runways (<1000 m),
  • subsonic climb to an operational altitude of 10 km (at a speed of 200 m/s),
  • acceleration through the transonic regime up to Mach <5 and ascent along a constant dynamic-pressure trajectory with engines operating in ramjet mode,
  • suborbital hops toward the Kármán line at 100 km altitude, supported by a hybrid-rocket booster,
  • high-altitude release (50–70 km) of a second stage for microsatellite injection into LEO.

CIRA Activities in the Project

CIRA participates in the project by contributing to system definition and configuration analysis, leveraging specialized system-level expertise in aerodynamics and flight mechanics, and by developing selected critical enabling technologies such as, for example, the rocket propulsion system.

CIRA also coordinated the aerodynamic testing campaign, part of which was conducted in the PT-1 transonic wind tunnel at CIRA.

General Project Information

Funding Programme: National Military Research Plan (PNRM) 2020

Start Date: 01/02/2022; End Date: 31/12/2025

Coordinating Organization: Distretto Aerospaziale della Campania (DAC)

Partners: CIRA, MBDA Italia, Caltec, Aerosoft, ATM, Lead Tech, TecnoSistem, Trans-Tech, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II

CIRA Contact: Sara Di Benedetto, s.dibenedetto@cira.it