Development of the hypersonic flight experimental vehicle

Abstract

This paper describes the development of the Hypersonic Flight Experimental Vehicle, Hyflex, the first Japanese hypersonic lifting vehicle as the precursor engineering demonstrator of the H-II Orbiting Plane (HOPE). The flight experiment was successfully conducted on February 12 1996 by the brand-new NASDA small launcher, the J-I Launch Vehicle. The project purpose, progress, experiment flight plan / result and the vehicle system feature are summarized. Onboard measurement such as pressure, temperature and other sensor is described with typical flight results. Some detailed development progress of Aerodynamics, Aerothermodynamics, Thermal Protection and Flight Control are also discussed.