Dawn Mk-II Aurora
Dawn Aerospace · New Zealand · Space · also known as Mk-II Aurora, Aurora, Dawn Aurora · Updated
The Mk-II Aurora is a small uncrewed rocket-powered suborbital spaceplane developed by Dawn Aerospace. It takes off from an ordinary runway under its own rocket power, climbs steeply, coasts, then glides back and lands on the same runway, which is what allows the company to aim at flying one airframe more than once in a day. It is in flight test and has begun carrying customer payloads.
Design and capabilities
Aurora is a fixed-wing aircraft rather than a capsule or a lifting body, and it is small enough to be handled on the ground by a very small team. Propulsion is a rocket engine burning high-test hydrogen peroxide and kerosene. Dawn Aerospace notes that this gives a thrust-to-weight ratio far above what a jet engine of comparable mass produces, which is why the vehicle can climb almost vertically from a standing start, and because it carries its own oxidiser it is not limited by air density on the way up.
The company lists a maximum payload of 15 kg, a design ceiling above 100 km, a design maximum speed of about Mach 3.7, a flight lasting roughly 30 minutes, up to 127 seconds of microgravity and a four-hour turnaround between flights. The 100 km and Mach 3.7 figures are design values. The altitudes and speeds reached in testing so far are lower, and the highest recorded to date is 82,500 feet, about 25 km.
Programme status
The Mk-II Aurora was announced in July 2020. Atmospheric testing established the vehicle's handling, and five test flights were flown over New Zealand's South Island between 28 and 30 July 2021. On 9 December 2021 the company received a licence to fly suborbital missions from a conventional New Zealand airport. By December 2022 it had completed 48 jet-powered test flights below 9,000 feet.
The first three rocket-powered flights were made between 29 and 31 March 2023, and certification for supersonic flight followed in July 2024. On 12 November 2024, on its 57th flight, Aurora reached Mach 1.1 and an altitude of 82,500 feet, roughly 25 km, flying from Glentanner Aerodrome near Aoraki Mount Cook. On the same flight it climbed from ground level to 20 km in 118.6 seconds, which the company recorded as beating the F-15 Streak Eagle time to that altitude by 4.2 seconds, and it was the first New Zealand-designed and built aircraft to fly supersonic.
On 6 March 2025 the vehicle's high-altitude licence was updated to permit payload flights. Dawn Aerospace's published flight log lists subsequent missions carrying payloads for California Polytechnic State University, Arizona State University, Scout Space and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, reaching between about 38,800 and 67,000 feet at speeds between Mach 0.7 and Mach 1.03. Two flights have been flown by the same airframe within eight hours, with a four-hour turnaround between them.
FAQ
Is it flying today? Yes. The Mk-II Aurora is in active flight test and has been licensed to carry customer payloads since March 2025.
How many people does it carry? None. Aurora is uncrewed and is flown from the ground.
