A Summary of Hypersonic Flight Missions and recent Developments by Mobile Rocket Base

Abstract

Founded as a launch service provider for sounding rocket flight missions in the sixties, Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) has conducted more than 500 sounding rocket missions. For the longest time, focus of the research supported was on astronomy, atmospheric physics and microgravity research. Two decades ago, hypersonics research and testing became a relevant field of engagement, spurring developmental efforts to adapt our traditional sounding rocket portfolio and flight systems to the special needs of hypersonic testing. This encompassed advances in thermal hardening of exposed flight structures and suppressed trajectory designs providing flight Mach numbers up to eight for more than two minutes. Four flight missions also involved vehicle configurations that deviated from the traditional, rotational symmetry of sounding rockets, posing additional challenges to flight stability. The keynote speech provides a summary of our flights in service of hypersonic research from the angle of flight performance and developmental advances on the launch vehicle side. It also strives to give an outlook onto currently planned missions and ongoing launch vehicle developments.