The appeal of an aircraft based on X-43 technologies is the ability to achieve rocket-like velocities using a form of propulsion called the supersonic combustion ramjet, or scramjet.
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It then transitions to ramjet propulsion at near-supersonic speeds, then to supersonic combustion or scramjet propulsion, above Mach 6, then back to pure rocket propulsion above Mach 10.
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In 2004 NQEA built a nozzle for a scramjet ( supersonic combustion ramjet engine ) to be tested by the University of Queensland ground test facility, the T4 tunnel.
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In 2006 the Indian Space Research Organisation performed a series of ground tests to demonstrate stable supersonic combustion for nearly 7 seconds with an inlet Mach number of 6.
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The flight was the last of three for the X-43A aircraft designed to prove that the supersonic combustion ramjet, or scramjet, engine would work at high speeds and altitudes.
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The rocket will carry the X-43A to 110, 000 feet ( 33, 000 meters ) and separate, allowing the craft to fly for about 10 seconds with its supersonic combustion jet operating.
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In 1964, Dr . Frederick S . Billig and Dr . Gordon L . Dugger submitted a patent application for a supersonic combustion ramjet based on Billig s Ph . D . thesis.
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Also known as supersonic combustion ramjets, scramjets can theoretically halve payload weights by carrying only fuel _ such as liquid hydrogen _ rather than both the fuel and oxygen carried by traditional rockets.
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In the 1950s and 1960s a variety of experimental scramjet engines were built and ground tested in the US and the UK . In 1958, an analytical paper discussed the merits and disadvantages of supersonic combustion ramjets.
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This means that the air flowing through the combustion chamber is still moving very fast ( relative to the engine ), in fact it will be supersonic & mdash; hence the name Supersonic Combustion Ramjet, or scramjet.
