Germany requests a startup to develop a hypersonic spaceplane by the year 2028.

      Germany's military has tasked the Bremen-based startup Polaris with the development of a two-stage, fully reusable hypersonic space plane, setting a deadline of three years for its completion.

      Named Aurora, this 28-meter-long vehicle will function as both a rocket and an airplane — capable of taking off and landing on a runway, while also soaring through the atmosphere to deliver payloads of up to 1 ton into low-Earth orbit.

      As part of the contract, Polaris will handle the design, construction, and flight testing of the spaceplane, which will act as a platform for hypersonic flight and defense research. If equipped with a non-reusable upper stage, it may also serve as a small satellite launcher, according to Polaris.

      Founded in 2019 by Alexander Kopp, Polaris emerged as a spin-off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and builds on over thirty years of research in German and European spaceplanes.

      The startup has already produced three prototypes of its Aurora spaceplane. The first, named Mira I, crashed shortly after its maiden flight, but the subsequent versions — Mira-II and Mira-III — fared better. These 5-meter-long models, each weighing 240 kg, have successfully completed over 100 test flights since launching in September of the previous year.

      The Mira prototype series utilizes jet engines for takeoff, cruising, and landing, while also incorporating an aerospike rocket engine for high-speed propulsion tests. Originally conceived in the 1960s, aerospike engines can adapt to changes in air pressure at various altitudes, providing greater efficiency than conventional designs.

      Despite their advantages, aerospikes did not become widely adopted due to difficulties in cooling and construction. However, Polaris's advancements in cooling technologies and materials may address these historical engineering obstacles.

      In October of last year, Polaris made headlines by executing the first-ever flight powered by an aerospike engine. The AS-1 engine ignited in the air for three seconds on the Mira-II over the Baltic Sea, producing a thrust of 900 Newtons and propelling the 229 kg vehicle to 864 km/h.

      The future, more ambitious Aurora is intended to achieve hypersonic speeds exceeding Mach 5 (over 6,125 km/h) and beyond.

      Aircraft like Aurora could provide a more economical means of accessing space than traditional rockets, as they can launch from standard runways and be reused multiple times — akin to airplanes, but with enhanced capabilities.

      Polaris's announcement follows recent comments from Germany's incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who expressed skepticism about NATO's future structure and urged Europe to boost its defense expenditures.