Stefan Powell: Dawn Aerospace chief executive on creating the first NZ-made aircraft to break the sound barrier

Dawn Aerospace's Mk-II Aurora flew at supersonic speeds for the first time, clearing the way to begin commercial operations in a few months.

The aircraft is the first Kiwi-designed-and-made rocket to break the sound barrier since the Concorde- opening the doors for expanded space travel possibilities.

CEO Stefan Powell says this proves the technology works - and sets the stage for further opportunities. 

"That sets the stage for us to be able to extend that certification, ultimately up to above space. This can be the first vehicle to fly to space multiple times a day."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Move aside Rocket Lab, because New Zealand's next next big
space company might actually be a company called Dawn Aero Space.
You might remember these guys. We spoke to them a
few months ago when they were hoping to get permission
to fly at supersonic speeds. Well, they got the permission
and they have flown at the supersonic speeds and this
makes them the first civil aircraft to break the sound
barrier since the Concord. Chief Executive Stefan powellers with us. Now, hey, Stephan, Hey,

(00:24):
how's it going good? Thank you? Did you hear the boom?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
No, you don't actually hear the boom because.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
It's unlike a like the Concord, which would break the
sound barrier while going like dead horizontal, We do it
going vertical.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
We're going straight up, so that boom goes straight up
to space, so you don't actually hear it on the ground.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Oh that's a bummer, isn't it. But I mean because
I suppose it doesn't affect the neighbors, and you know
how neighbors are in this country. So that's good. Okay.
So now that you've done it and you've got up
to I think it was twenty five k's, which is
the limit of what you can do. What do you
do now?

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Well, I mean this really proves to you know, all
of our key stakeholders, our customers, our investors and critically
CIA that we can do this, and we can do
it reliably, we can do it safely. We're not We're
talking about the vehicle dynamics, you know, going through transonic
that all works, so that sets the stage for us
to be able to extend that certification ultimately up to

(01:20):
above space, so that this can be the first vehicle
to fly to space multiple times a day.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
And when are you planning to be flying multiple times
a day?

Speaker 2 (01:29):
You're not talking to publicly about timeframes because it's always
hard to predict exactly. But we'll be building the next
generation vehicle, which will look identical, but it's much more
optimal in performance, but more fuel on board, higher thrust
engine that will allow us to get to space twice
in a day. We'll be building that vehicle next year.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Brilliant stuff. And the commercial clients are they paying a lot.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Well, they're certainly paying. They're certainly very interested in being
able to use this vehicle for all kinds of thing
things like microgravity experiments testing out satellite technology, are doing
atmospheric experimentation. We're kind of just discovering what can you
actually do with this new class of ultra high performance aircraft.
You know, it's something that humanity has never really been

(02:16):
able to do reliably, is access you know, above the atmosphere,
but below where satellites fly. So it's really really unique
capability with lots of commercial applications.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, good stuff, Hey mate, best of luck with that
and thanks for talking to us about it. Steffan Powell
of Dawn Aero Space. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news Talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays,
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