Hypersonic flight missions and recent technology advances by Mobile Rocket Base

Abstract Founded as a launch service provider for sounding rocket flight missions in the sixties, Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) has conducted more than five hundred sounding rocket missions. For the longest time, focus of the research supported was on astronomy, atmospheric physics and microgravity research. Beginning in the new millennium, hypersonic research and testing has become a relevant field of engagement, spurring developmental efforts to adapt our traditional sounding rocket portfolio and flight systems to the special needs of the field. This encompassed advances in thermal hardening of exposed flight structures and suppressed trajectory designs providing flight Mach numbers up to eight for more than two minutes. Four missions also involved vehicle configurations that deviated from the traditional, rotational symmetry of sounding rockets, posing new challenges to flight stability. The present paper discusses the challenges and potential of utilizing sounding rockets in hypersonic research and presents technical adaptations demonstrated by the Mobile Rocket Base. A summary is given of the to date fourteen missions in service of hypersonic research from the perspective of flight performance and technical advances. Last, we provide an outlook on current developments aiming to meet the demand for Mach numbers in excess of ten and heavier and more complex payload designs.