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New Frontier Aerospace and Air Force Institute of Technology Sign CRADA to Advance Hypersonic VTOL Aircraft
August 5, 2025 | PR NewswireEstimated reading time: 1 minute
New Frontier Aerospace (NFA) is excited to announce a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) aimed at advancing an innovative rocket-powered hypersonic Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft. This partnership will leverage advanced aerodynamics and flight control techniques to revolutionize high-speed transportation of cargo and passengers for both commercial and military missions.
The collaboration focuses on creating a comprehensive aerodynamic database to optimize the structural design, aerothermal performance, and control systems of NFA's Pathfinder hypersonic VTOL aircraft. Pathfinder is designed to fly missions powered by NFA's Mjölnir rocket engines, which recently completed a series of hot-fire tests.
This CRADA will enable AFIT to conduct computational fluid dynamics and flight dynamics analyses essential for refining the aircraft's design.
"This collaboration represents a significant step forward in our mission to deliver affordable hypersonic transportation to our customers," said 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."
The partnership is expected to yield advancements that will greatly benefit both military and commercial aviation sectors, paving the way for the next generation of aviation transportation solutions.
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