Sci-Tech: Australian scramjet test to launch soon in Norway

Guy Norris at AvWeek has an extended post about the Australian SCRAMSPACE 1 scramjet hypersonic propulsion project run by the Centre for Hypersonics at the University of Queensland, Australia : Hypersonic Countdown – On Space/Aviation Week

An Australian team is here at the Andøya Rocket Range near the top of Norway, north of the Arctic Circle, in the final preparation stages for launching Scramspace – one of the most novel air-breathing hypersonic free-flight experiments ever undertaken.

Over the next few days the University of Queensland (UQ)-led team will send the Scramjet-based Access-to-Space Systems (Scramspace) vehicle rocketing out of the atmosphere high over the Norwegian Sea. The $12.9 million ($14 million Aus) three-year research project will culminate when the scramjet-powered craft powers back down through the atmosphere at a speed close to Mach 8. Hurtling to a watery grave at around 2.4 km/second, Scramspace will pass through the experimental altitude zone between 19 and 16 miles in just over 2 seconds.

Here are some recent UQ articles about the project:

You can find on line updates on the project at ScramspaceOne (ScramspaceOne) on Twitter.

[ Update: Find reports also at

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Here are a couple of short videos recently posted about the project: