New Frontier and AFIT advance design of hypersonic Pathfinder VTOL

The partnership will enable AFIT to conduct aerodynamic analyses to refine Pathfinder’s flight control, structure and thermal performance.

New Frontier Aerospace (NFA) has entered into a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) to advance its rocket-powered hypersonic Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft. The agreement will support the creation of an aerodynamic database to improve the structural design, control systems, and aerothermal performance of NFA’s Pathfinder aircraft.

Pathfinder is designed for high-speed transport of cargo and passengers on both commercial and military missions, powered by NFA’s Mjölnir rocket engines, which recently completed hot-fire testing.

As part of the CRADA, AFIT will carry out computational fluid dynamics and flight dynamics analyses that will help refine the aircraft’s design.

“This collaboration represents a significant step forward in our mission to deliver affordable hypersonic transportation to our customers,” says Bill Bruner, CEO of New Frontier Aerospace. “By combining our team’s decades of expertise with the cutting-edge research capabilities of AFIT, we will accelerate our progress towards our first high speed flight.”

NFA expects the partnership to contribute to progress across both the military and commercial aviation sectors.