&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Drone with top speed of 4,321 kmph will take off from standard runway and cross the Karman Line")
At 100 kilometres above sea level lies the Karman Line, a boundary from where space starts. Everything that crosses this line is, in essence, a spacecraft and not an airplane. Now, a company is offering an aircraft that would qualify to be a spaceplane since it would be able to go beyond the Karman Line. It will be like a regular plane, taking off from a standard runway. But it is expected to be the fastest and highest-flying aircraft ever.
It has been put up for sale directly, and has created quite a lot of intrigue. It is called the Aurora, and is being built in New Zealand. The spaceplane has a unique design. It is being built by a company called Dawn Aerospace. It announced in May this year that the Aurora is now available for purchase.
To the edge of space
The plane is attracting attention for its immense power and design, which can take it to the edge of space, or 328,000 feet above sea level. No airplane has ever flown beyond the Karman Line.
Since Aurora will ultimately go past this line from where space starts, according to the company, it would not be wrong to call it a spaceplane.
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The plane would play a crucial role in the defence sector, offering countries a new method to carry out surveillance in order to protect themselves.
Top speed of 2,685 mph (4,321 kmph)
During a test flight in November 2024, the plane reached a speed of Mach 1.12. However, Dawn is working to push it to its limits, and achieve a speed of Mach 3.5 or 2,685 mph (4,321 kmph). Right now, Lockheed-Martin SR-71 Blackbird holds the speed record set in 1976 for piloted aircraft of 2,193 mph.
However, it would not be a manned plane, but would act more like a drone. It has a thin fuselage and a small, delta wing. It will take off from a regular runway and will be controlled by a remote.
The Karman Line is not a universally recognised or internationally accepted division between space and Earth. However, it unofficially marks the separation between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. The line was named after aerospace pioneer Theodore von Kármán, as he came up with the boundary in the mid-twentieth century.
