Rotary-implosion rocket engines could help aircraft reach Mach 9 speeds

Venus Aerospace successfully tested a drone equipped with a rocket-like combustion engine at subsonic speeds, which could reach speeds of 11,000 km/h when flying commercially in the future.

In the test, the drone was equipped with a rotating rocket explosion engine (RDRE), which helps the vehicle reach subsonic speeds. This engine will be equipped by the company for future super-fast commercial jets.

The drone used in the test was 2.4 m long and weighed 136 kg. Before deploying the vehicle and activating the RDRE, the drone was taken to an altitude of 3,658 m by an Aero L-29 Delfín aircraft.

The drone flew 16 km at Mach 0.9 (more than 1,111 km/h) using 80% of the RDRE's available thrust. The flight's success demonstrated the feasibility of the rotating-implosion rocket engine and its associated flight systems.

Venus Aerospace representatives said that rotating implosion rocket technology is 15% more efficient than conventional rocket engines.

Venus Aerospace's goal is to develop a commercial hypersonic aircraft that can travel at Mach 9 (11,000 km/h), capable of flying from London to San Francisco in one hour.

Similar to the Concorde, the steady detonation of the RDRE would have made the aircraft extremely noisy as the repeated rapid acceleration cycles based on continuous detonation could have placed additional stress on the engine and its supporting structures.

Venus Aerospace now plans to further test the RDRE engine using a larger drone that can reach speeds five times faster than sound (6,200 km/h).