HYPERION 2

Main Goals of the Project

The HYPERION-2 project is conceived as the natural continuation of the HYPERION project (concluded on 06/08/2025), with the objective to pass the PDR, Preliminary Design Review.

The project aims to carry out the preliminary design of a suborbital vehicle intended to extend air defence capabilities (surveillance and interception) to the entire air space up to 100 km altitude, against the new threats introduced by hypersonic war-systems, and capable of air-launching into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) a payload in the microsatellite class from altitudes of approximately 60 km.

More specifically, HYPERION is a supersonic/hypersonic vehicle with a hybrid turboramjet/rocket propulsion system, designed to perform repeated suborbital flight missions, without the launch-site limitations typical of other systems.

Its main capabilities include:

• horizontal take-off and landing from/on “short” runways of length around 1000 m;
• subsonic climb to the operating altitude of 10 km (speed of 200 m/s);
• acceleration through the transonic regime and climb along a constant dynamic pressure trajectory up to Mach < 5 and around 25km altitude with engines operating in ramjet mode;
• suborbital jumps towards the Kármán line at 100 km altitude, with the aid of a cluster of  hybrid rockets;
• possibility of releasing a second stage at high altitude (60 km) for the insertion of 100kg microsatellites into LEO.

CIRA Activities in the Project

CIRA participates in the project by contributing to system definition and configuration analysis, drawing on its specific system-level expertise in aerodynamics and flight mechanics, while also developing certain critical enabling technologies, such as the propulsion system that consists of two airbreathing turbo-ramjet engines and a hybrid rocket.

CIRA coordinates the aerodynamic test campaigns conducted at the INCAS trisonic wind tunnel (Romania) and at CIRA’s PT-1 transonic wind tunnel.

General Project Information

Funding Programme: 50% co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Defense via the National Military Research Programme (PNRM); the remaining 50% co-funded by the partnership.

Start date Phase 1: 03/02/2026; End date Phase 1: 31/10/2026

Estimated Start date Phase 2: 02/02/2027; Estimated End date Phase 2: 31/12/2027

Official Project Website: https://www.daccampania.com/it/hyperion2-suborbital-hypersonic-spaceplane-capable-to-support-payload-in-orbit-insertion-2/

Coordinating Organization: DAC, Campania Aerospace District

Partners: CIRA, MBDA Italia, Caltec (members of the temporary business grouping); Aerosoft, Lead Tech, Tecnosistem, Trans-Tech, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, University of Naples Federico II (actuators)

CIRA Contact: Pietro Roncioni, p.roncioni@cira.it