It was set to be the world’s first flight test for an aerospike rocket engine, but the MIRA I prototype crashed on takeoff before the most innovative part of its propulsion system could fire. Undeterred, Polaris is building two bigger prototypes.
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 its 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.
Pulling the handbrake on 70-year-olds
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.
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