First U.S. Research Payload Flies on Dawn Aurora Spaceplane

First U.S. Research Payload Flies on Dawn Aurora Spaceplane

A payload built by students at California Polytechnic State University has been successfully flown aboard the Dawn Aerospace Aurora spaceplane, reaching a speed of Mach 0.79 and an altitude of 37,000 feet.“Flying on Aurora is of serious strategic importance.” Kurt Colvin, Cal PolyThis flight on June 24th—Aurora’s first from Dawn’s newly operational launch facility at Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre—carried Cal Poly’s payload, making it the fir…