The MIRA I, from German aerospace startup Polaris Raumflugzeuge, was traveling at approximately 105 mph (169 km/h) during takeoff when a

Groundbreaking spaceplane crashes before landmark aerospike rocket test

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2024-05-10 15:00:03

The MIRA I, from German aerospace startup Polaris Raumflugzeuge, was traveling at approximately 105 mph (169 km/h) during takeoff when a "landing gear steering reaction" plus a side wind caused a "hard landing event," rendering the space plane inoperable and it's fiberglass airframe damaged beyond repair.

Its subsystems remained mostly intact – however, rather than attempt to repair the prototype spaceplane, Polaris has opted to decommission the 4.25-meter (13.9-ft) long MIRA I to go ahead with the identically shaped 5 m (16 ft) MIRA II and III design. Basically larger copies of the MIRA I.

This ill-fated test was set to be MIRA I's first chance to fire its AS-1 LOX (Liquid Oxygen)/kerosene linear aerospike rocket engine in actual flight – and indeed, the first time any aerospike engine had been properly flight-tested in an actual aircraft.

Yes, an aerospike rocket engine, developed in-house by Polaris. If that sounds like something from science fiction, well, it almost is. They were first invented in the 1950s by Rocketdyne, but have never been used outside of a lab.