In New Zealand, the test flight of the unmanned space plan of Aurora Dawn Aerospace was held. The device rose to a height of 20 km and tested the Morning Sparrow optical complex, created to track satellites on very low orbites.
Aurora started from the usual take -off strip at the Tāwhaki cosmodrome using a rocket engine. With a length of 4.8 m and a wingspan 4 m, the device reached a speed of 1.03 max. At the maximum height, the Morning Sparrow system was activated, including two cameras: with a narrow and wide angle of view. Their images are combined into stereopanorama, allowing you to track low -orbit and suborbital objects.
Such technologies are needed to quickly assess what devices launch other countries or companies.
According to the head of Dawn Aerospace, Stefan Powell, Aurora was created specifically for quick and repeated departures to the cosmos border with a payload that could not wait months or years before launch.
