Radian Aerospace, a startup company aiming to revolutionize space travel, has successfully completed ground testing of its prototype spaceplane. The company, which has previously worked with major media outlets such as Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, CCTV, and The Wall Street Journal, has taken another significant step towards achieving the holy grail of space travel: a reusable spacecraft capable of taking off and landing like a traditional airplane.
The testing was conducted using the company’s small-scale prototype, known as the PFV01. The primary objective of the test was to gather data on the flight and control characteristics of the spacecraft and compare it with simulations conducted over the past few years. In a recent interview, company co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Livingston Holder revealed that although the spacecraft did not take to the skies, it successfully completed a series of small jumps on the runway.
Holder explained that the PFV01 is much smaller than the final spacecraft, measuring about 15 feet in length. However, the data collected from these tests will be crucial in providing information for key aspects of the final design and flight control systems, such as the placement of the landing gear and the center of gravity, to maximize stability in mid-air.
He said, This aircraft allows us to adjust the center of gravity forward and backward, as well as up and down, and also allows us to adjust the position of the landing gear. These adjustments provide real-world feedback to our analysis data.
According to the company’s plans, the Radian 1 spaceplane will take off from a two-mile-long sled track, ignite its engine in orbit, and then return to Earth on a normal runway. This concept is considered the holy grail of space travel because it eliminates the need for运载火箭 (launch vehicles), allowing the spacecraft to enter space as a traditional airplane can enter the high atmosphere.
The economic benefits of reusable spaceplanes are significant, as they can travel to and from space daily or more frequently, resulting in higher profit margins. Previous attempts have been made, with the most famous example being NASA’s X-33 program for the development of an orbital spaceplane. Holder led the X-33 program at Boeing.
Jeff Feige, the company’s co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, said, The least attractive aspect of this system is that it can launch satellites. What Radian is truly impressive about is that it is a multi-mission system that can enter a much larger market than traditional rockets. You can not only launch things, but also provide services for them, recover them. We can bring the entire payload or satellite down from space. We can send people into space. We can dive into the atmosphere, and theoretically, we can drop things or observe things on Earth. Therefore, our range of capabilities is much broader.
Feige pointed out that rocket design is fundamentally different from vertical rockets, which means the development process is also different: Many risks must be retired in advance. Therefore, although rocket companies must manufacture full-scale aircraft, the development of spacecraft is more similar to the development of airplanes.
The Seattle-based startup has not disclosed any technical specifications of the test, such as the maximum speed of the spacecraft or the duration of the glide, but Holder said the PFV01 reached take-off speed. Now, the company will take some time to analyze all the data collected from the test and then begin a series of higher-speed glide tests and actual flight tests. At the same time, the company will also strive to obtain approval from regulatory authorities to operate and fly at another airport in the United Arab Emirates.
Company executives hope to begin full-scale flights of the Radian One spaceplane in 2028. To date, the company has raised $27.5 million in known funding from investors such as Fine Structure Ventures, EXOR, The Venture Collective, Helios Capital, SpaceFund, Gaingels, The Private Shares Fund, Explorer 1 Fund, and Type One Ventures.
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