3D Printed Hypersonic Testbeds

The DoD needs to increase the rate of development and testing of hypersonic materials and systems. However, hypersonic conditions cannot be accurately replicated on the ground and current representative flight tests are very expensive and infrequent. To meet this critical need, Raven proposes the Mach3D, 3D printed hypersonic testbeds for frequent, affordable, and versatile hypersonic flight testing. The Mach3D aeroshells can survive the most extreme flight conditions including Mach 25+ reentry from space. Mach3D aeroshells are adaptable to various missions and experiments using Raven’s breakthrough aerospace composite 3D printing technology. Raven’s innovation unlocks the production-level 3D printing of aerospace-grade thermoset composite and ceramic composite preforms. This revolutionary process rapidly produces highly tailorable materials with strong mechanical properties and thermal stability for rapid, low-cost, and adaptable hypersonic aeroshell production. In Phase II, Raven will develop a nonrecoverable Mach3D reentry vehicle to acquire hypersonic reentry flight data.