Very High Altitude Aircraft Propulsion Engines

M-DOT Aerospace proposes to team with Mezzo Technologies of Baton Rouge LA and Dr. Hui Wang of the USC, LA and conduct a series of tests and analyses that address all currently perceived critical-path technologies of a 36 kW high-altitude power system design generated in Phase I for the Rapid Eye program. A representative section of the engine will be fabricated and tests conducted to evaluate performance and durability of heat exchangers and a rotating seal. Testing will simulate operation at high altitude. Successful completion of this effort will validate the calculated maximum operating altitude of the system and demonstrate that the system is essentially state of the art technology requiring only the typical development practices and time line of a conventional aircraft engine. In a follow-on 15-month program a ground-test system can be produced and tested. The effort also includes continued refinement of the aero and mechanical design of the power system. To ensure that the work is meaningful and applicable to the Rapid Eye program, a 12-month period of performance is proposed.