The SHEFEX Flight Test and Development Program

Kurzfassung

Within SHEFEX the step by step development results in stepwise increasing velocity and test duration. SHEFEX I performs a Mach 6 flight for 20 Seconds. SHEFEX II reaches Mach 10-11 for 45 Seconds. SHEFEX III is aimed to reach Mach 20 for 15 minutes, a significant and ambitious step which require a big sounding rocket which is currently not available, but under development in Brasil. Thus, the growing complexity of SHEFEX III is the right milestone within the Re-entry technology development road map to implement strategic co-operations and partnerships. On the test vehicle side, DLR leads the development with ASTRIUM as a strong industrial partner. On the launcher side, Brasil leads the VLM-1 Microlauncher development with DLR as a partner for the first application of the launch system within the SHEFEX III flight. But SHEFEX is not only a single path development for Re-entry. In the field of hypersonic aircraft and air breathing propulsion development the SHEFEX launch systems could be a standard rocket family for flight tests. The improvements in high temperature stable stabilizers, huge lift fairings to cover complex vehicles and high accurate pointing and control systems are applicable especially to such kinds of flight tests, which partially is already done within the HiFire and Scramspace Programs and could be used within the ESA HEXAFLY proposal. This paper will give an overview of the running SHEFEX III project and the related REX Free Flyer study. Also some related Spin off activities will be discussed