High Throughput Store Release System for Hypersonic Wind Tunnels During a Single Test Run

As our nation begins to develop and deploy new hypersonic weapon systems, there will be a need to qualify future hypersonic stores. Part of this will be ensuring that when a hypersonic vehicle releases a store it does not have an unwanted trajectory (e.g., striking the launching vehicle). In order to accomplish this, extensive wind tunnel testing is needed. Spectral Energies (SE) and its partners have developed a store release mechanism to reliably and repetitively launch stores in a hypersonic environment and use SE’s tracking software to capture the trajectory of the store. SE proposes to modify the mechanism to allow for high-volume testing that will allow for multiple stores to be released during a single wind tunnel run. Ultimately, this would get capability in the hands of the war fighter in a quicker and more cost-effective fashion. During Phase I, SE developed a concept for the high-throughput store release mechanism, validated the product market fit, and identified appropriate Air Force end-users and customers. During Phase II, SE will finalize the design of the high-throughput test hardware, hold design review meetings, install the hardware in a relevant hypersonic wind tunnel, and demonstrate the hardware.