Radian Aerospace, a startup based in Seattle, has taken a significant step towards achieving the holy grail of spaceflight: a reusable spacecraft capable of taking off and landing like a conventional aircraft from a runway. The company recently completed a series of ground tests on its small-scale prototype, PFV01, in Abu Dhabi, furthering its ambitions to revolutionize space travel.
The PFV01, a small-scale prototype, demonstrated the ability to perform small hops on the runway, according to Livingston Holder, the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer. While the prototype did not achieve flight, the data collected during these tests are invaluable for refining the final design and flight control systems. Specifically, the tests allowed the team to adjust the position of the landing gear and the center of gravity, which are critical for stability during mid-air operations.
Holder explained, This vehicle allows us to move the center of gravity up and down and front to back, and to adjust the landing gear position. These adjustments provide real-world feedback that informs our analysis. Anywhere there is uncertainty, this is where the PFV truly lets us lower that uncertainty, so that our analysis process is more accurate as we accelerate the vehicle and conduct more flights.
The company’s vision is to launch the Radian One spacecraft from a track sled approximately two miles long, ignite its engines in orbit, and then land on a conventional runway. This concept is considered the holy grail of spaceflight because it eliminates the need for a launch rocket, allowing spacecraft to enter space in a manner similar to how airplanes enter the upper atmosphere.
The potential economic benefits are substantial. Reusable spacecraft could make daily or even more frequent trips to space, with higher profit margins. Previous attempts at this concept include NASA’s X-33 program, which Holder led while at Boeing.
Jeff Feige, Radian’s co-founder and chief operating officer, highlighted the versatility of the system: The least attractive aspect of this system is that it can launch satellites. Radian is truly impressive because it is a system that can perform multiple missions, essentially entering a much larger market than traditional rockets. You can not only launch things but also service them, recover them, and even bring the entire payload or satellite back from space. We can take people to space, and theoretically, we can deliver or observe things from the atmosphere and release them on the ground.
Feige noted that the design of a spacecraft is fundamentally different from that of a vertical rocket, which means the development process is also different. You have to retire a lot of risk up front, he said. While rocket companies must build full-scale vehicles, the incremental development of a spaceplane is more akin to the development of an aircraft.
Radian Aerospace has not disclosed specific technical details from the tests, such as the maximum speed of the vehicle or the duration of the run, but Holder stated that PFV01 reached takeoff speed. The company plans to spend some time analyzing all the data collected from the tests before moving on to higher-speed run tests and actual flight tests. Meanwhile, the company will also work on obtaining regulatory approvals to operate and fly at another airport in the UAE.
The company’s executives hope to begin full-scale flights of the Radian One spacecraft by 2028. To date, Radian Aerospace has raised $27.5 million from investors including Fine Structure Ventures, EXOR, The Venture Collective, Helios Capital, SpaceFund, Gaingels, The Private Shares Fund, Explorer 1 Fund, and Type One Ventures.
The successful ground tests by Radian Aerospace represent a crucial milestone in the journey towards a more accessible and efficient space transportation system. As the company continues to refine its design and move towards actual flights, the potential for transformative change in the space industry becomes increasingly tangible.
Views: 0