Successful flight of USAF hypersonic BOLT-1B test vehicle in Norway

The US Air Force’s hypersonic test vehicle BOLT-1B has conducted a successful flight in northern Norway. It was launched from the Andoya Space Sub-Orbital launch site and reached an apogee of 154km.

The term hypersonic refers to speeds greater than Mach 5, which will introduce new challenges for engineers such as intense aerodynamic heating and material durability as well as new airflow challenges.

The BOLT-1B mission is designed to take more detailed look at hypersonic airflow, says Thomas Gansmoe, Director of Sounding Rockets and Engineering Services at Andøya Space Sub-Orbital. More specifically, how the mechanisms work at hypersonic speeds when going from laminar flow to turbulent flow on specific parts of the flight vehicle’s surface.

“The effects of boundary layer transition are some of the greatest uncertainty sources for designing a hypersonic vehicle,” said Gansmoe. “The data gathered from this flight will help engineers design future hypersonic vehicles.”

BOLT-1B is a project coordinated by the USAF Office of Scientific Research and is carried out by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ), and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Principal investigator is Dr. Brad Wheaton from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). BOLT-1B safely splashed down inside the impact and dispersion area and completed all test objectives.

The test vehicle lifted off from the Andøya Space Sub-Orbital launch site on Andoya island in northern Norway. The site received its Launch Site Operator License from the Norwegian government last year and the long-term goal of the site’s operator is to become a launch centre for satellites. Andoya Space is 90% owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry and 10% by Kongsberg Defence Systems who manufacture the Naval and Joint Strike Missiles (NSM and JSM).