Dawn Aerospace is a space transportation company building both in-space propulsion systems and a space launch vehicle. The company currently manufactures satellite propulsion systems with lower greenhouse potential and nontoxic materials, as well as an uncrewed suborbital spaceplane with rapidly reusable flight characteristics.
History
Dawn Aerospace was co-founded in 2017 by Stefan Powell (New Zealand), Jeroen Wink (from the Netherlands), James Powell (New Zealand), Tobias Knop (Germany), and Robert Werner (Germany).
In 2018, Dawn Aerospace raised $3.5m in seed funding from New Zealand, American and Dutch investors. Further investment of an undisclosed figure was made in 2021 by Movac and others.[1]
In 2020, Dawn Aerospace successfully performed atmospheric testing of their Dawn MK II spaceplane,[2] verifying its flight characteristics before future 2023 testing of a larger platform.[3]
Satellite propulsion hardware
Dawn Aerospace currently produces hardware for small satellites, to include thrusters and propellants.[4]
Dawn aerospace has provided the propulsion to Pixxel, an Indian based space organization.[5]
They also have signed contracts with the ESA,
[6] contracts with Blue Canyon, now part of Raytheon Technologies, to provide its proprietary mix of propellants for microsatelite operations [7][8] and ALE Co., Ltd. Japan and UARX Space. In the last case Dawn provided them with its own proprietary propulsion architecture.[9][10][11]
Dawn Aerospace has also signed contracts with Indonesia's national space agency, working to provide the propellant for a new satellite network dedicated to providing early warning of tsunami and earthquake related phenomena.[12][13]
B20 Thruster
Dawn Aerospace's B20 thruster is a 20 newton thruster that uses a chemical propellant made up of nitrous oxide and propylene. The innovation is that it replaces hydrazine, a highly toxic chemical compound often used in satellites. This allows for quicker launches and more safe handling of the rocket while on the ground, increasing launch cadence.[14] In 2021, D-Orbit, a space logicists firm, validated the thrusters on its PULSE space tug mission, firing six B20 thrusters.[15][16]
B1 thruster
Another in-space propulsion rocket motor, the B1 thruster is a 1 newton thruster for satellites. It is manufactured as a single structure using Inconel 718. In 2021 it was flown on the Hiber-Three and Hiber-Four 3U CubeSat, which were respectively launched by Soyuz-2 and Falcon9 on the SpaceX Transporter-1 mission,[17] SpaceX's first dedicated SmallSat Rideshare program mission.[18]
Dawn Mk-II Aurora spaceplane
Dawn Aerospace announced [19] the Mk-II Aurora uncrewed suborbital spaceplane in July 2020.[20] The goal for the prototype is to achieve same-day full re-usability, taking off from conventional airports and reaching altitudes above 100 km for experiments in microgravity, hypersonics, earth observation, and atmospheric science.[21] The spaceplane was initially tested with jet engines at low altitudes and then later with rocket engines at progressively high altitudes.
Development milestones
In 2021, the Mk-II Aurora flew for the first time during five test flights over the South Island of New Zealand between 28 and 30 July. On 9 December 2021, Dawn Aerospace announced it had received a license to fly its suborbital spaceplane from a conventional New Zealand Airport, working with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA) and New Zealand Space Agency.[22][23] By December 2022, Dawn Aerospace had conducted 48 successful tests below 9000 ft altitude using jet engines to demonstrate the spaceplane platform,[24][25] verifying its flight characteristics before future 2023 testing of a larger platform.[26]
In March 2023, the CAA certified the craft for rocket-powered (HTP/kerosene) test flights.[27] The first three rocket-powered test flights were conducted[clarification needed] between 29 and 31 March 2023 from Glentanner Aerodrome.[28] Subsequent certification for supersonic flight was received from the CAA in July 2024.[29] On 12 November 2024, the Mk-II Aurora spaceplane broke the sound barrier for the first time, becoming the first airplane designed and manufactured in New Zealand to do so. The flight, the spaceplane's 57th, attained a top speed of Mach 1.1 and a maximum height of 82,000 ft (25,000 m).[30][31]
Facilities
Dawn Aerospace operates from three global bases: one each in the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United States. Dawn Aerospace's headquarters are in Christchurch, New Zealand. They placed it there due to it being a good location for flight testing with less air traffic and stable weather. Dawn Aerospace is registered in New Zealand.[32][33]
