Sara Di Benedetto, Salvatore Cardone, Gianfranco Morani, Antonio Schettino, Marco Marini,
Roberto Scigliano , Domenico Cristillo , Paolo Vernillo , Roberto Fauci , Breno de Oliveira e Silva ,
Lucas Galembeck, Victor F. Villace, Johan Steelant
DOI Number XXX-YYY-ZZZ
Conference Number HiSST-2022-216
This paper will provide a comprehensive description of the multidisciplinary activities performed in the
frame of the HEXAFLY-INT project in order to design both the mission and the vehicle (Experimental
Flight Test Vehicle, EFTV) with the aim at designing an unpowered controlled flight test at hypersonic
speed, demonstrating the capability of performing manoeuvres and carrying on-board breakthrough
technologies.
The payload will be launched by the Brazilian VS-50 launcher, performing a suborbital trajectory, and
being released at 90 km. During the early phase of its descent flight segment, the EFTV will be docked
to the Experimental Support Module (ESM) which has the aim of controlling the vehicle attitude by
means of Cold Gas reaction control System thrusters (CGS). After the separation from the ESM, a pullout manoeuvre will bring the EFTV to level flight condition at a target altitude of 32km at approximately
Mach 7 (experimental phase).
A synthesis of the relevant aspects, means and methodologies used for assessing EFTV’s aerodynamic
behaviour and aerothermodynamic features, materials and thermal protection system, structural loads
and stress analysis, and trajectory is reported. All these aspects depend on each other and together
they lead to the definition of the vehicle and the mission matching the initial requirements.
The final aim of the activity is to define methods and standards for different critical aspects of highspeed flying systems, and then to collect valuable flight data to validate methods and technologies in
a dedicated experimental flight campaign.