Polaris spaceplane receives MIRA II, MIRA III fiberglass fuselages
Polaris Raumflugzeuge GmbH (Bremen, Germany) is developing a reusable space launch and hypersonic transport system that can operate like an airplane. Its development of the Aurora space plane builds on more than 30 years of German and European space shuttle research that began at the DLR-German Aerospace Center. Aurora is said to combine aircraft and rocket launcher technology with a unique vehicle design, providing game-changing economic feasibility for routine low-cost and safe access to space.
Polaris' roadmap targets a lightweight spaceplane by 2027 and a heavy vehicle by the early 2030s. To validate the technology and accelerate this development, the company has built and tested a series of scaled flight demonstrators, including MIRA and now MIRA-II (VCN-007) and MIRA-III (VCN-008) – all with fuselages made of fiberglass reinforced composite sandwich construction.
Recently, Polaris has received fiberglass composite structures for its latest aircraft, the MIRA II and MIRA III. Built by Up2-Tec (Aachen, Germany), the composite fuselages were delivered within a short time frame and at a cost-effective budget.
The identical twin is 5 meters long and has 30% more wing area than the 4.3 meter long predecessor MIRA. This increased size has enabled a significant increase in flight test capabilities. The design is also much improved compared to MIRA, incorporating all the lessons learned to date.
Each aircraft will be equipped with four turbines and a liquid oxygen (LOX)/kerosene linear Aerospike rocket engine from Polaris. The company decided to use two vehicles instead of one to speed up flight testing and have a spare aircraft.
In the coming weeks, Polaris will assemble and integrate the MIRA II and MIRA III aircraft, making them ready for flight and preparing the documentation needed for operational and flight testing to receive clearance in September 2024. Polaris plans to fly the MIRA II and MIRA III aircraft as a final batch of pure technology demonstrators. By 2025, it will build and fly the approximately 8-meter-long supersonic successor, Nova, which will be the prototype for the commercial product.
